Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just broadband The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal. Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times, is a high data rate Internet access—typically contrasted with dial-up access Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses telephone lines. The user's computer or router uses an attached modem connected to a telephone line to dial into an Internet service provider's node to establish a modem-to-modem link, which is then used to route Internet Protocol packets between the user's equipment and hosts using a 56k modem 56k modems are voiceband modems nominally capable of download speeds up to 56 kbit/s . At the beginning of the 21st Century, most personal computers contained one[citation needed], but their use is declining as broadband technologies such as DSL and UMTS/HSDPA gain wider availability.

Dial-up modems are limited to a bitrate In telecommunications and computing, bitrate is the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time of less than 56 kbit/s (kilobits A bit or binary digit is the basic unit of information in computing and telecommunications; it is the amount of information that can be stored by a digital device or other physical system that can usually exist in only two distinct states. These may be the two stable positions of an electrical switch, two distinct voltage or current levels allowed per second) and require the full use of a telephone line—whereas broadband technologies supply more than double this rate and generally without disrupting telephone use.

Although various minimum bandwidths have been used in definitions of broadband, ranging up from 64 kbit/s up to 2.0 Mbit/s^[1], the 2006 OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is an international economic organisation of 32 countries. It defines itself as a forum of countries committed to democracy and the market economy, providing a setting to compare policy experiences, seeking answers to common problems, identifying good practices, and co-ordinating domestic report^[2] is typical by defining broadband as having download data transfer rates In telecommunications and computing, bitrate is the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time equal to or faster than 256 kbit/s, while the United States ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language (US) Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, directed and empowered by Congressional statute (see 47 U.S.C. § 151 and 47 U.S.C. § 154), and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, (FCC) as of 2009, defines "Basic Broadband" as data transmission speeds exceeding 768 kilobits per second (Kbps), or 768,000 bits per second, in at least one direction: downstream (from the Internet to the user’s computer A computer is a programmable machine that receives input, stores and manipulates data//information, and provides output in a useful format) or upstream (from the user’s computer to the Internet).^[3] The trend is to raise the threshold of the broadband definition as the marketplace rolls out faster services.^[4]

Data rates are defined in terms of maximum download because several common consumer broadband technologies such as ADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line is one form of the Digital Subscriber Line technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. It does this by utilizing frequencies that are not used by a voice telephone call. A splitter, or DSL filter, are "asymmetric"—supporting much slower maximum upload data rate than download.

"Broadband penetration" is now treated as a key economic indicator An economic indicator is a statistic about the economy. Economic indicators allow analysis of economic performance and predictions of future performance. One application of economic indicators is the study of business cycles.^[2][5]

Overview

Broadband is often called "high-speed" access to the Internet, because it usually has a high rate of data transmission. In general, any connection to the customer of 256 kbit/s (0.256 Mbit/s) or greater is more concisely considered broadband Internet access. The International Telecommunication Union The International Telecommunication Union is the eldest organization in the UN family still in existence. It was founded as the International Telegraph Union in Paris on 17 May 1865 and is today the leading United Nations agency for information and communication technology issues, and the global focal point for governments and the private sector Standardization Sector (ITU-T The Telecommunication Standardization Sector coordinates standards for telecommunications on behalf of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and is based in Geneva, Switzerland) recommendation I.113 has defined broadband as a transmission capacity that is faster than primary rate The primary Rate Interface is a standardized telecommunications service level within the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) specification for carrying multiple DS0 voice and data transmissions between a network and a user ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network is a set of communications standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the traditional circuits of the public switched telephone network. It was first defined in 1988 in the CCITT red book. Prior to ISDN, the phone system was viewed as a way to transport, at 1.5 to 2 Mbit/s. The FCC The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, directed and empowered by Congressional statute (see 47 U.S.C. § 151 and 47 U.S.C. § 154), and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, definition of broadband is 768 kbit/s (0.8 Mbit/s). The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is an international economic organisation of 31 countries. It defines itself as a forum of countries committed to democracy and the market economy, providing a setting to compare policy experiences, seeking answers to common problems, identifying good practices, and co-ordinating domestic (OECD) has defined broadband as 256 kbit/s in at least one direction and this bit rate is the most common baseline that is marketed as "broadband" around the world. There is no specific bitrate In telecommunications and computing, bitrate is the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time defined by the industry, however, and "broadband The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal. Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times" can mean lower-bitrate transmission methods. Some Internet Service Providers An Internet service provider , also sometimes referred to as an Internet access provider (IAP), is a company that offers its customers access to the Internet[citation needed]. The ISP connects to its customers using a data transmission technology appropriate for delivering Internet Protocol Paradigm, such as dial-up, DSL, cable modem, wireless or (ISPs) use this to their advantage in marketing lower-bitrate connections as broadband.

In practice, the advertised bandwidth In computer networking and computer science, bandwidth, digital bandwidth, or network bandwidth is a measure of available or consumed data communication resources expressed in bit/s or multiples of it is not always reliably available to the customer; ISPs often allow a greater number of subscribers than their backbone connection The Internet backbone refers to the principal data routes between large, strategically interconnected networks and core routers in the Internet. These data routes are hosted by commercial, government, academic and other high-capacity network centers, the Internet exchange points and network access points, that interchange Internet traffic between or neighborhood access network An access network is that part of a communications network which connects subscribers to their immediate service provider. It is contrasted with the core network, for example the Network Switching Subsystem in GSM. The access network may be further divided between feeder plant or distribution network, and drop plant or edge network can handle, under the assumption that most users will not be using their full connection capacity very frequently. This aggregation strategy works more often than not, so users can typically burst to their full bandwidth most of the time; however, peer-to-peer A peer-to-peer, commonly abbreviated to P2P, is any distributed network architecture composed of participants that make a portion of their resources directly available to other network participants, without the need for central coordination instances (such as servers or stable hosts). Peers are both suppliers and consumers of resources, in (P2P) file sharing File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digitally stored information, such as computer programs, multi-media , documents, or electronic books. It may be implemented through a variety of storage, transmission, and distribution models and common methods of file sharing incorporate manual sharing using removable media, systems, often requiring extended durations of high bandwidth usage, stress these assumptions, and can cause major problems for ISPs who have excessively overbooked their capacity. For more on this topic, see traffic shaping Traffic shaping is the control of computer network traffic in order to optimize or guarantee performance, lower latency, and/or increase usable bandwidth by delaying packets that meet certain criteria. More specifically, traffic shaping is any action on a set of packets (often called a stream or a flow) which imposes additional delay on those. As takeup for these introductory products increases, telcos A telephone company is a service provider of telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications access. Most of the largest telcos, whatever their origins, are or were at one time nationalized or state-regulated monopolies[citation needed]. These monopolies are often referred to, primarily in Europe, as PTTs are starting to offer higher bit rate services. For existing connections, this most of the time simply involves reconfiguring the existing equipment at each end of the connection.

As the bandwidth delivered to end users increases, the market expects that video on demand Video on Demand or Audio Video on Demand (AVOD) are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand. IPTV technology is often used to bring video on demand to televisions and pcs services streamed over the Internet will become more popular, though at the present time such services generally require specialized networks. The data rates on most broadband services still do not suffice to provide good quality video, as MPEG-2 MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods which permit storage and transmission of movies using currently available storage media and transmission bandwidth video requires about 6 Mbit/s for good results. Adequate video for some purposes becomes possible at lower data rates, with rates of 768 kbit/s and 384 kbit/s used for some video conferencing A videoconference or video conference is a set of interactive telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously. It has also been called 'visual collaboration' and is a type of groupware applications, and rates as low as 100 kbit/s used for videophones A videophone is a telephone with a video screen, and is capable of full duplex video and audio transmissions for communication between people in real-time. It was the first form of videotelephony, later to be followed by videoconferencing, webcams, and finally telepresence using H.264/MPEG-4 AVC H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 or AVC is a standard for video compression. The final drafting work on the first version of the standard was completed in May 2003. The MPEG-4 MPEG-4 is a patented collection of methods defining compression of audio and visual digital data. It was introduced in late 1998 and designated a standard for a group of audio and video coding formats and related technology agreed upon by the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) (ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11) under the formal standard ISO/IEC 1449 format delivers high-quality video at 2 Mbit/s, at the low end of cable modem A cable modem is a type of network bridge and modem that provides bi-directional data communication via radio frequency channels on a cable television infrastructure. Cable modems are primarily used to deliver broadband Internet access in the form of cable Internet, taking advantage of the high bandwidth of a cable television network. They are and ADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line is one form of the Digital Subscriber Line technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. It does this by utilizing frequencies that are not used by a voice telephone call. A splitter - or microfilter - performance.

Increased bandwidth has already made an impact on newsgroups A usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from many users in different locations. The term may be confusing to some, because it is usually a discussion group. Newsgroups are technically distinct from, but functionally similar to, discussion forums on the World Wide Web. Newsreader software is used to: postings to groups such as alt.binaries.* have grown from JPEG In computing, JPEG is a commonly used method of lossy compression for photographic images. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10:1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality files to entire CD A Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store sound recordings exclusively, but later it also allowed the preservation of other types of data. Audio CDs have been commercially available since October 1982. In 2010, they remain the standard physical storage medium for audio and DVD DVD, also known as Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc, is an optical disc storage media format, and was invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Time Warner in 1995. Its main uses are video and data storage. DVDs are of the same dimensions as compact discs , but are capable of storing more than six times as much data images A disk image is a single file or storage device containing the complete contents and structure representing a data storage medium or device, such as a hard drive, tape drives, floppy disk, CD/DVD/BD and key drive, although an image of an optical disc may be referred to as an optical disc image. A disk image is usually created by creating a. According to NTL,^{[disambiguation needed]} the level of traffic on their network increased from a daily inbound news feed of 150 gigabytes of data per day and 1 terabyte of data out each day in 2001 to 500 gigabytes of data inbound and over 4 terabytes out each day in 2002.^{[citation needed]}

Technology

The standard broadband technologies in most areas are DSL and cable modems. Newer technologies in use include VDSL and pushing optical fiber connections closer to the subscriber in both telephone and cable plants. Fiber-optic communication, while only recently being used in fiber to the premises and fiber to the curb schemes, has played a crucial role in enabling Broadband Internet access by making transmission of information over larger distances much more cost-effective than copper wire technology. In a few areas not served by cable or ADSL, community organizations have begun to install Wi-Fi networks, and in some cities and towns local governments are installing municipal Wi-Fi networks. As of 2006, broadband mobile Internet access has become available at the consumer level in some countries, using the HSDPA and EV-DO technologies. The newest technology being deployed for mobile and stationary broadband access is WiMAX.

DSL (ADSL/SDSL)

Multilinking Modems

Roughly double the dial-up rate can be achieved with multilinking technology. What is required are two modems, two phone lines, two dial-up accounts, and ISP support for multilinking, or special software at the user end. This inverse multiplexing option was popular with some high-end users before ISDN, DSL and other technologies became available.

Diamond and other vendors had created dual phone line modems with bonding capability. The data rate of dual line modems is faster than 90 kbit/s. The Internet and phone charge will be twice the ordinary dial-up charge.

Load balancing takes two Internet connections and feeds them into your network as one double data rate, more resilient Internet connection. By choosing two independent Internet providers the load balancing hardware will automatically use the line with least load which means should one line fail, the second one automatically takes up the slack.

ISDN

Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN) is one of the oldest broadband digital access methods for consumers and businesses to connect to the Internet. It is a telephone data service standard. Its use in the United States peaked in the late 1990s prior to the availability of DSL and cable modem technologies. Broadband service is usually compared to ISDN-BRI because this was the standard broadband access technology that formed a baseline for the challenges faced by the early broadband providers. These providers sought to compete against ISDN by offering faster and cheaper services to consumers.

A basic rate ISDN line (known as ISDN-BRI) is an ISDN line with 2 data "bearer" channels (DS0 - 64 kbit/s each). Using ISDN terminal adapters (erroneously called modems), it is possible to bond together 2 or more separate ISDN-BRI lines to reach bandwidths of 256 kbit/s or more. The ISDN channel bonding technology has been used for video conference applications and broadband data transmission.

Primary rate ISDN, known as ISDN-PRI, is an ISDN line with 23 DS0 channels and total bandwidth of 1,544 kbit/s (US standard). ISDN E1 (European standard) line is an ISDN lines with 30 DS0 channels and total bandwidth of 2,048 kbit/s. Because ISDN is a telephone-based product, a lot of the terminology and physical aspects of the line are shared by the ISDN-PRI used for voice services. An ISDN line can therefore be "provisioned" for voice or data and many different options, depending on the equipment being used at any particular installation, and depending on the offerings of the telephone company's central office switch. Most ISDN-PRI's are used for telephone voice communication using large PBX systems, rather than for data. One obvious exception is that ISPs usually have ISDN-PRI's for handling ISDN data and modem calls.

It is mainly of historical interest that many of the earlier ISDN data lines used 56 kbit/s rather than 64 kbit/s "B" channels of data. This caused ISDN-BRI to be offered at both 128 kbit/s and 112 kbit/s rates, depending on the central office's switching equipment.

Advantages:

1. Constant data rate at 64 kbit/s for each DS0 channel.
2. Two way broadband symmetric data transmission, unlike ADSL.
3. One of the data channels can be used for phone conversation without disturbing the data transmission through the other data channel. When a phone call is ended, the bearer channel can immediately dial and re-connect itself to the data call.
4. Call setup is very quick.
5. Low latency
6. ISDN Voice clarity is unmatched by other phone services.
7. Caller ID is almost always available for no additional fee.
8. Maximum distance from the central office is much greater than it is for DSL.
9. When using ISDN-BRI, there is the possibility of using the low-bandwidth 16 kbit/s "D" channel for packet data and for always on capabilities.

Disadvantages:

1. ISDN offerings are dwindling in the marketplace due to the widespread use of faster and cheaper alternatives.
2. ISDN routers, terminal adapters ("modems"), and telephones are more expensive than ordinary POTS equipment, like dial-up modems.
3. ISDN provisioning can be complicated due to the great number of options available.
4. ISDN users must dial in to a provider that offers ISDN Internet service, which means that the call could be disconnected.
5. ISDN is billed as a phone line, to which is added the bill for Internet ISDN access.
6. "Always on" data connections are not available in all locations.
7. Some telephone companies charge unusual fees for ISDN, including call setup fees, per minute fees, and higher rates than normal for other services.

T-1/DS-1

These are highly-regulated services traditionally intended for businesses, that are managed through Public Service Commissions (PSCs) in each state, must be fully defined in PSC tariff documents, and have management rules dating back to the early 1980s which still refer to teletypes as potential connection devices. As such, T-1 services have very strict and rigid service requirements which drive up the provider's maintenance costs and may require them to have a technician on standby 24 hours a day to repair the line if it malfunctions. (In comparison, ISDN and DSL are not regulated by the PSCs at all.) Due to the expensive and regulated nature of T-1 lines, they are normally installed under the provisions of a written agreement, the contract term being typically one to three years. However, there are usually few restrictions to an end-user's use of a T-1, uptime and bandwidth data rates may be guaranteed, quality of service may be supported, and blocks of static IP addresses are commonly included.

Since a T-1 was originally conceived for voice transmission, and voice T-1's are still widely used in businesses, it can be confusing to the uninitiated subscriber. It is often best to refer to the type of T-1 being considered, using the appropriate "data" or "voice" prefix to differentiate between the two. A voice T-1 would terminate at a phone company's central office (CO) for connection to the PSTN; a data T-1 terminates at a point of presence (POP) or data center. The T-1 line which is between a customer's premises and the POP or CO is called the local loop. The owner of the local loop need not be the owner of the network at the POP where your T-1 connects to the Internet, and so a T-1 subscriber may have contracts with these two organizations separately.

The nomenclature for a T-1 varies widely, cited in some circles a DS-1, a T1.5, a T1, or a DS1. Some of these try to distinguish amongst the different aspects of the line, considering the data standard a DS-1, and the physical structure of the trunk line a T-1 or T-1.5. They are also called leased lines, but that terminology is usually for data rates under 1.5 Mbit/s. At times, a T-1 can be included in the term "leased line" or excluded from it. Whatever it is called, it is inherently related to other broadband access methods, which include T-3, SONET OC-3, and other T-carrier and Optical Carriers. Additionally, a T-1 might be aggregated with more than one T-1, producing an nxT-1, such as 4xT-1 which has exactly 4 times the bandwidth of a T-1.

When a T-1 is installed, there are a number of choices to be made: in the carrier chosen, the location of the demarcation point, the type of channel service unit (CSU) or data service unit (DSU) used, the WAN IP router used, the types of bandwidths chosen, etc. Specialized WAN routers are used with T-1 lines that route Internet or VPN data onto the T-1 line from the subscriber's packet-based (TCP/IP) network using customer premises equipment (CPE). The CPE typical consists of a CSU/DSU that converts the DS-1 data stream of the T-1 to a TCP/IP packet data stream for use in the customer's Ethernet LAN. It is noteworthy that many T-1 providers optionally maintain and/or sell the CPE as part of the service contract, which can affect the demarcation point and the ownership of the router, CSU, or DSU.

Although a T-1 has a maximum of 1.544 Mbit/s, a fractional T-1 might be offered which only uses an integer multiple of 128 kbit/s for bandwidth. In this manner, a customer might only purchase 1/12th or 1/3 of a T-1, which would be 128 kbit/s and 512 kbit/s, respectively.

T-1 and fractional T-1 data lines are symmetric, meaning that their upload and download data rates are the same.

Wired Ethernet

Where available, this method of broadband connection to the Internet would indicate that Internet access is very fast. However, just because Ethernet is offered doesn't mean that the full 10, 100, or 1000 Mbit/s connection can be utilized for direct Internet access. In a college dormitory, for example, the 100 Mbit/s Ethernet access might be fully available to on-campus networks, but Internet access bandwidths might be closer to 4xT-1 data rate (6 Mbit/s). If you are sharing a broadband connection with others in a building, the access bandwidth of the leased line into the building would of course govern the end-user's data rate.

In certain locations, however, true Ethernet broadband access might be available. This would most commonly be the case at a POP or a data center, and not at a typical residence or business. When Ethernet Internet access is offered, it could be fiber-optic or copper twisted pair, and the bandwidth will conform to standard Ethernet data rates of up to 10 Gbit/s. The primary advantage is that no special hardware is needed for Ethernet. Ethernet also has a very low latency.

Rural broadband

One of the great challenges of broadband is to provide service to potential customers in areas of low population density, such as to farmers, ranchers, and small towns. In cities where the population density is high, it is easy for a service provider to recover equipment costs, but each rural customer may require expensive equipment to get connected.

Several rural broadband solutions exist, though each has its own pitfalls and limitations^{[clarification needed]}. Some choices are better than others, but are dependent on how proactive the local phone company is about upgrading their rural technology.

Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISPs) are rapidly becoming a popular broadband option for rural areas,^{[citation needed]}. The technology's line-of-sight requirements may hamper connectivity in some areas with hilly and heavily foliated terrain. However, the Tegola project, a successful pilot in remote Scotland, demonstrates that wireless can be a viable option^[6]. In addition, compared to hard-wired connectivity, there are security risks (unless robust security protocols are enabled); speeds are significantly slower (2 – 50 times slower); and the network can be less stable, due to interference from other wireless devices, weather and line-of-sight problems.Al^[7]

Satellite Internet

Satellites in geostationary orbits are able to relay broadband data from the satellite company to each customer. Satellite Internet is usually among the most expensive ways of gaining broadband Internet access, but in rural areas it may be the only choice other than cellular broadband. However, costs have been coming down in recent years to the point that it is becoming more competitive with other broadband options.

Broadband satellite Internet also has a high latency problem is due to the signal having to travel to an altitude of 35,786 km (22,236 mi) above sea level (from the equator) out into space to a satellite in geostationary orbit and back to Earth again. The signal delay can be as much as 500 milliseconds to 900 milliseconds, which makes this service unsuitable for applications requiring real-time user input such as certain multiplayer Internet games and first-person shooters played over the connection. Despite this, it is still possible for many games to be played, but the scope is limited to real-time strategy or turn-based games. The functionality of live interactive access to a distant computer can also be subject to the problems caused by high latency. These problems are more than tolerable for just basic email access and web browsing and in most cases are barely noticeable.

For geostationary satellites there is no way to eliminate this problem. The delay is primarily due to the great distances travelled which, even at the speed of light (about 300,000 km/second or 186,000 miles per second), can be significant. Even if all other signalling delays could be eliminated it still takes electromagnetic radio waves about 500 milliseconds, or half a second, to travel from ground level to the satellite and back to the ground, a total of over 71,400 km (44,366 mi) to travel from the source to the destination, and over 143,000 km (88,856 mi) for a round trip (user to ISP, and then back to user—with zero network delays). Factoring in other normal delays from network sources gives a typical one-way connection latency of 500–700 ms from the user to the ISP, or about 1,000–1,400 milliseconds latency for the total Round Trip Time (RTT) back to the user. This is far worse than most dial-up modem users' experience, at typically only 150–200 ms total latency.

Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites however do not have such great delays. The current LEO constellations of Globalstar and Iridium satellites have delays of less than 40 ms round trip, but their throughput is less than broadband at 64 kbps per channel. The Globalstar constellation orbits 1,420 km above the earth and Iridium orbits at 670 km altitude. The proposed O3b Networks MEO constellation scheduled for deployment in 2010 would orbit at 8,062 km, with RTT latency of approximately 125 ms. The proposed new network is also designed for much higher throughput with links well in excess of 1 Gbps (Giga bits per second).

Most satellite Internet providers also have a FAP (Fair Access Policy). Perhaps one of the largest disadvantages of satellite Internet, these FAPs usually throttle a user's throughput to dial-up data rates after a certain "invisible wall" is hit (usually around 200 MB a day). This FAP usually lasts for 24 hours after the wall is hit, and a user's throughput is restored to whatever tier they paid for. This makes bandwidth-intensive activities nearly impossible to complete in a reasonable amount of time (examples include P2P and newsgroup binary downloading).

The European ASTRA2Connect system has a FAP based on a monthly limit of 2Gbyte of data downloaded, with download data rates reduced for the remainder of the month if the limit is exceeded. Other Satellite Internet offers have advanced FAP mechanisms based on sliding time windows. It is the case for instance for the Tooway service that verifies download quotas during the last hours, days and weeks. The purpose is to allow temporary excessive downloads when needed while saving volume for the end of the month.^[8].

Advantages

1. True global broadband Internet access availability
2. Mobile connection to the Internet (with some providers)

Disadvantages

1. High latency compared to other broadband services, especially 2-way satellite service
2. Unreliable: drop-outs are common during travel, inclement weather, and during sunspot activity
3. The narrow-beam highly directional antenna must be accurately pointed to the satellite orbiting overhead
4. The Fair Access Policy limits heavy usage, if applied by the service provider
5. VPN use is discouraged, problematic, and/or restricted with satellite broadband, although available at a price
6. One-way satellite service requires the use of a modem or other data uplink connection
7. Satellite dishes are very large. Although most of them employ plastic to reduce weight, they are typically between 80 and 120 cm (30 to 48 inches) in diameter.

Cellular broadband

Cellular phone towers are very widespread, and as cellular networks move to third generation (3G) networks they can support fast data; using technologies such as EVDO, HSDPA and UMTS.

These can give broadband access to the Internet, with a cell phone, with Cardbus, ExpressCard, or USB cellular modems, or with cellular broadband routers, which allow more than one computer to be connected to the Internet using one cellular connection.

Power-line Internet

This is a new service still in its infancy that may eventually permit broadband Internet data to travel down standard high-voltage power lines. However, the system has a number of complex issues, the primary one being that power lines are inherently a very noisy environment. Every time a device turns on or off, it introduces a pop or click into the line. Energy-saving devices often introduce noisy harmonics into the line. The system must be designed to deal with these natural signaling disruptions and work around them.

Broadband over power lines (BPL), also known as Power line communication, has developed faster in Europe than in the US due to a historical difference in power system design philosophies. Nearly all large power grids transmit power at high voltages in order to reduce transmission losses, then near the customer use step-down transformers to reduce the voltage. Since BPL signals cannot readily pass through transformers, repeaters must be attached to the transformers. In the US, it is common for a small transformer hung from a utility pole to service a single house. In Europe, it is more common for a somewhat larger transformer to service 10 or 100 houses. For delivering power to customers, this difference in design makes little difference, but it means delivering BPL over the power grid of a typical US city will require an order of magnitude more repeaters than would be required in a comparable European city.

The second major issue is signal strength and operating frequency. The system is expected to use frequencies in the 10 to 30 MHz range, which has been used for decades by licensed amateur radio operators, as well as international shortwave broadcasters and a variety of communications systems (military, aeronautical, etc.). Power lines are unshielded and will act as transmitters for the signals they carry, and have the potential to completely wipe out the usefulness of the 10 to 30 MHz range for shortwave communications purposes, as well as compromising the security of its users.

Wireless ISP

This typically employs the current low-cost 802.11 Wi-Fi radio systems to link up remote locations over great distances, but can use other higher-power radio communications systems as well.

Traditional 802.11b was licensed for omnidirectional service spanning only 100-150 meters (300–500 ft). By focusing the signal down to a narrow beam with a Yagi antenna it can instead operate reliably over a distance of many miles, although the technology's line-of-sight requirements hamper connectivity in areas with hilly and heavily foliated terrain. In addition, compared to hard-wired connectivity, there are security risks (unless robust security protocols are enabled); speeds are significantly slower (2 – 50 times slower); and the network can be less stable, due to interference from other wireless devices and networks, weather and line-of-sight problems.[6]

Rural Wireless-ISP installations are typically not commercial in nature and are instead a patchwork of systems built up by hobbyists mounting antennas on radio masts and towers, agricultural storage silos, very tall trees, or whatever other tall objects are available. There are currently a number of companies that provide this service. A wireless Internet access provider map for USA is publicly available for WISPS.

WorldSpace

WorldSpace is a digital satellite radio network based in Washington DC. It covers most of Asia and Europe plus all of Africa by satellite. Beside the digital audio, users can receive one way broadband digital data transmission (150 Kilobit/second) from the satellite.

Advantages:

1. Low cost (US$ 100) receiver that combines a digital radio receiver and a data receiver. This technology can be used for transmitting websites / files from Internet.
2. Access from remote places in Asia and Africa.

Disadvantages:

1. One way data transmission.
2. Privacy/security.

Pricing in the United States

Traditionally, US Internet service providers have used an "unlimited time" or flat rate model, with pricing determined by the maximum bitrate chosen by the customer, rather than an hourly charge. With increased consumer demand for streaming content such as video on demand and peer-to-peer file sharing, the use of high bandwidth applications has increased rapidly.

For ISPs who are bandwidth limited, the flat rate pricing model may become unsustainable as demand for bandwidth increases. Fixed costs represent 80-90% of the cost of providing broadband service, and although most ISPs keep their cost secret, the total cost (January 2008) is estimated to be about $0.10 per gigabyte. Currently some ISPs estimate that about 5% of users consume about 50% of the total bandwidth.^[9] To ensure these high-bandwidth users do not slow down the network, many ISPs have split their users’ bandwidth allocations into 'peak' and 'off peak', encouraging users to download large files late at night.^[10]

In order to provide additional high bandwidth pay services^[11] without incurring the additional costs of expanding current broadband infrastructure, Internet Service Providers are exploring new methods to cap current bandwidth usage by customers.^[12] This is despite the lagging broadband infrastructure in the United States, according to the Economic Policy Institute: "The United States has also fallen behind other countries in the deployment of new broadband technologies."^[13]

Some ISPs have begun experimenting with usage-based pricing, notably a Time Warner test in Beaumont, Texas.^[14] The effort to expand usage-based pricing into the Rochester, New York area met with public resistance, however, and was abandoned.^[15] Bell Canada has imposed bandwidth caps on customers.

Broadband worldwide

To promote economic development and reduction of the digital divide, national broadband plans from around the world promote the universal availability of affordable broadband connectivity.

See also

Broadband technologies

• Back-channel, a low bandwidth, or less-than-optimal, transmission channel in the opposite direction to the main channel
• Baseband
• Fiber-optic communication
• List of device bandwidths
• Local loop
• Narrowband
• Public switched telephone network (PSTN)
• Residential gateway

Broadband implementations and standards

• Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), digital data transmission over the wires used in the local loop of a telephone network
• Local Multipoint Distribution Service, broadband wireless access technology that uses microwave signals operating between the 26 GHz and 29 GHz bands
• WiMAX, a standards-based wireless technology that provides high-throughput broadband connections over long distances
• Other wireless technologies, including IEEE standards (802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11a) and many proprietary wireless protocols. In 2008, with WiMAX still at the top of the learning curve in terms of price, these technologies dominate the market for fixed wireless broadband.
• Power line communication, wireline technology using the current electricity networks
• Satellite Internet access
• Cable modem, designed to modulate a data signal over cable television infrastructure
• Fiber to the premises, based on fiber-optic cables and associated optical electronics
• High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), a new mobile telephony protocol, sometimes referred to as a 3.5G (or "3½G") technology
• Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO), is a wireless radio broadband data standard adopted by many CDMA mobile phone service providers
• 802.20 MBWA (Mobile Broadband Wireless Access)

Future broadband implementations

• Bonded DSL Rings a ring topology at the remote end that enables 400Mb/s over existing DSL
• White Spaces Coalition a group of technology companies aiming to deliver broadband Internet access via unused analog television frequencies
• High-Speed Downlink Packet Access

Broadband applications

• Broadband telephone
• Broadband radio
• List of countries by broadband users

Other

• Internet
• Networks
• World Wide Web

References

1. ^ "Birth of Broadband". ITU. http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/publications/birthofbroadband/faq.html. Retrieved July 21, 2009.
2. ^ ^{a b} "2006 OECD Broadband Statistics to December 2006". OECD. http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/broadband.html. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
3. ^ "Statement of Chairman Kevin J.Martin". http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-280909A2.doc. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
4. ^ Patel, Nilay (March 19, 2008). "FCC redefines "broadband" to mean 768 kbit/s, "fast" to mean "kinda slow"". Engadget. http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/19/fcc-redefines-broadband-to-mean-768kbps-fast-to-mean-kinda/. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
5. ^ "OECD Broadband Report Questioned". Website Optimization. http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0705/. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
6. ^ "Tegola project linking Skye, Knoydart and Loch Hourne". http://www.tegola.org. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
7. ^ http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/?tag=wlanh_20
8. ^ [|Satellite Signals] (16 October 2008). "Calculating FAP restrictions". Satellite Signals. http://www.satsig.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=tooway;action=display;num=1224154655. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
9. ^ Hansell, Saul (January 17, 2008). "Time Warner: Download Too Much and You Might Pay $30 a Movie". The New York Times. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/time-warner-download-too-much-and-you-might-pay-30-a-movie/?ref=technology. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
10. ^ http://www.comparebroadband.com.au/article_64_On--and-Off-Peak-Quotas.htm
11. ^ Charny, Ben (January 10, 2005). "Comcast pushes VoIP to prime time". CNET News. http://news.cnet.com/Comcast-pushes-VoIP-to-prime-time/2100-7352_3-5519446.html. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
12. ^ Cauley, Leslie (April 20, 2008). "Comcast opens up about how it manages traffic". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Story?id=4692338&page=1. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
13. ^ Irons, John; Ian Townson (April 23, 2008). "U.S. lags behind in broadband infrastructure". Economic Policy Institute. http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_snapshots_20080423. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
14. ^ Lowry, Tom (March 31, 2009). "Time Warner Cable Expands Internet Usage Pricing". BusinessWeek. http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2009/tc20090331_726397.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
15. ^ Axelbank, Evan (April 16, 2009). "Time Warner Drops Internet Plan". Rochester Homepage. http://rochesterhomepage.net/content/fulltext/?cid=85011. Retrieved June 6, 2009.

External links

• Broadband World Forum (International Engineering Consortium)
• Broadband gap
• European broadband portal
• Corporate vs. Community Internet, AlterNet, June 14, 2005, - on the clash between US cities' attempts to expand municipal broadband and corporate attempts to defend their markets

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