 remote regions; helping to reduce costs and provide better services to even the most rural and remote locations; allowing wireless networks to support online reporting and diagnostics, integrated with billing; providing emergency services; and extending regular health care to homebound patients, including doctor- Multimedia Networking Requirements patient videoconferences, remote monitoring of vital signs, and remote-control use of diagnostic and surgical instruments. Yet another key area is broadband's support of teleworking. The key telework- ing applications include fast data access, enhanced communications, and video- conferencing with remote locations. Teleworking enables employees and students to work more productively from home or other remote locations. The benefits to be gained encompass reducing traffic congestion, affecting the investment needed in reengineering the transportation grid, alleviating pollution, reducing depen- dence on fossil fuels, improving the quality of life, and generating potentially enor- mous cost savings to our society. Broadband is also vital to providing an effective national security system. Broadband contributes to national security by supporting real-time interagency coordination, monitoring, and mobilization. Because a broadband infrastructure is characterized by multiple carriers, facilities, and decentralization, it is relatively resilient and reliable in the event of disruption, and if disruptions do occur, tele- working will allow communications and work to continue from remote locations. In defense applications, broadband is vital to battlefield logistics, intelligence gath- ering and distribution, data tracking, and equipment maintenance. There are endless examples of the necessity of broadband in retail, field ser- vices, transportation, mining, oil, and many other fields; the list of industries that are changing and benefiting due to broadband applications and transport is limited only by the imagination. Multimedia Networking Requirements Today's networks simply 