| a large-scale communications network providing a variety of often interactive services, as text databases, e-mail, and audio and video materials, accessed through computers, television sets, etc. |
| information superhighway n. The global information and communications network that includes the Internet and other networks and switching systems such as telephone networks, cable television networks, and satellite communication networks. |
A term that describes all of the infrastrucure, including cable, satellites, and assorted hardware, that allows information to be transferred at great speed over large distances to all people.
Note: The term implies an analogy between the construction of an information infrastructure in the Internet age with the construction of the interstate highway system constructed in the last half of the twentieth century.
information superhighway communications
(Or "Infobahn", "Info Strada") The name coined by US Vice-president Al Gore in the early 1990s for the emerging high-speed global communications network capable of carrying voice, data, video, and other services around the world. These services use satellite, copper cable, optical fibre, cellular telecommunications, and are accessible via set-top boxes or suitably equipped computers.
See also National Information Infrastructure.
(2001-03-31)
