OM, LAND TRANSPORT, WATER AND ELECTRICITY - ISBN 92-64-02398-4 © OECD 2006 2. TELECOMS INFRASTRUCTURE TO 2030 Often overestimated in the past, telecommunications will nevertheless increasingly be viewed as a potential substitute for travel. This could reduce dependencies on vehicles and their fuels and ameliorate the effects of pollution. The potential impacts of teleworking, teleshopping, distance learning and e-commerce are such that the distribution of habitat and supply chains for retail could be affected. This will have fallout effects on other infrastructure services, notably electrical distribution, gas for heating, sewage and water supplies, as more remote regions become effectively closer to work with the death of distance from work. However, as previously noted, telecommunications also stimulates the economy and produces additional travel and other energy use. For this reason, telecommunications substitution effects will always be less than imagined. Introduction - the scope of the study Our study sets out to examine telecommunications as an infrastructure element, its development to 2030 and its impact on other elements such as transport and energy. It begins by establishing the scope of the study at two levels - in terms of the relevant telecommunications sub-sectors for infrastructure and also the geographic focus of the analysis. Among the many potential telecommunications sub-sectors, the study focuses on the three that are likely to be most important for the future: Fixed line telephony and data - the main infrastructure component today. Mobile telephony and data - including alternative wireless technologies beyond cellular mobile. Broadband mobile communications, especially wireless broadband. Other technologies may only be touched on in passing, including satellite communications, microwave links, HALES (high altitude long endurance systems) and cable TV, except as a support for multi-service broadband and as backhaul for mobile radio systems. Geographically, the study will examine infrastructur