Broadband Internet access: Encyclopedia - Broadband Internet access

Broadband Internet access

Broadband Internet access, often shortened to "broadband Internet" or just "broadband" is a high data-transmission rate internet connection. DSL and cable modem, both popular consumer broadband technologies, are typically capable of transmitting 256 kilobits per second or more, approximately nine times the speed of a modem using a standard digital telephone line.

Broadband Internet access became a rapidly developing market in many areas in the early 2000s; one study found that broadband Internet usage in the United States grew from 6% in June 2000 to over 30% in 2003.[1] Modern consumer broadband implementations, up to 20 Mbit/s, are several hundred times faster than those available at the time of the popularization of the Internet (such as ISDN and 56 kbit/s) while costing less than ISDN and sometimes no more than 56 kbit/s; though performance and costs vary widely between countries.

Broadband Internet access - Overview

Broadband is often called high-speed Internet, because it usually has a high rate of data. In general, any connection to the customer of 256 kbit/s (0.256 Mbit/s) or more is considered broadband Internet. The International Telecommunication Union Standardization Sector (ITU-T) recommendation I.113 has defined broadband as a transmission capacity that is faster than primary rate ISDN, at 1.5 to 2 Mbit/s. The FCC definition of broadband is 200 kbit/s (0.2 Mbit/s) in one direction, and advanced broadband is at least 200 kbit/s in both directions. The 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 defined by the industry, however, and "broadband" can mean lower-bitrate transmission methods. Some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) use this to advantage, in marketing lower-bitrate connections as broadband.

In practice, the advertised bandwidth is not always reliably available to the customer; ISPs often allow a greater number of subscribers than their backbone connection 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 file sharing systems, often requiring extended durations of high bandwidth, stress these assumptions, and can cause major problems for ISPs who have excessively overbooked their capacity. For more on this topic, see network traffic engineering. As takeup for these introductory products increases, telcos 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 services streamed over the Internet will become more popular, though at the present time such services generally require specialised networks. The data rates on most broadband services still do not suffice to provide good quality video, as MPEG-2 quality 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 applications. The MPEG-4 format delivers high-quality video at 2 Mbit/s, at the high end of cable modem and ADSL performance. The Ogg Tarkin format is intended to deliver similar performance.

Increased bandwidth has already made an impact on newsgroups: postings to groups such as alt.binaries.* have grown from JPEG images to entire CD and DVD images. According to NTL, 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.

Broadband Internet access - Technology

The standard technology in most areas is DSL, followed by cable modem. Newer technologies for twisted pair phone lines such as VDSL and pushing fiber optic connections closer to the subscriber in both telephone and cable plants are opening up the possibility of higher performance for streaming data, such as audio and video streams. There are now many streaming audio services, and several streaming video services. In a few of the many areas not served by cable or ADSL, community organizations have begun to install Wi-Fi networks.

ISDN is an older telephone data service that can operate at speeds of up to 128 kbit/s. It is therefore not really considered a true form of broadband, but it does have the advantage that it can share an existing phone line, and it has no distance limitations like DSL. When a phone call occurs, some of the bandwidth is allocated to the call, reducing the connection speed. When the call ends, the connection increases speed again. ISDN is a relatively low-cost option for rural users with otherwise terrible dialup access speeds, but it is starting to be phased out and is no longer available in some areas.

One of the great challenges of broadband is to provide service to potential customers in areas of low population density, such as to farmers and ranchers. 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 thousands of dollars of equipment to get connected. A similar problem existed a century ago when electrical power was invented. Cities were the first to receive electric lighting, as early as 1880, while in the United States some remote rural areas were still not electrified until the 1940's, and even then only with the help of federally-funded programs like the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

Several rural broadband solutions exist, though each has its own pitfalls and limitations. Some choices are better than others, but depend on how proactive the local phone company is about upgrading their rural technology.

Broadband Internet access - Satellite Internet

This employs a satellite in geostationary orbit to relay 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 is often the only viable option. However costs have been coming down in recent times to the point that it is becoming more competitive with other high speed options.

Satellite Internet also has a high latency problem caused by the signal having to travel 22,000 miles (35,000 km) out into space to the satellite 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 such as multiplayer Internet gaming or live interactive access to a distant computer, but tolerable for just basic email access and web browsing.

There is no simple way to get around this problem. The delay is primarily due to the speed of light being only 186,000 miles per second (300,000 km/second). Even if all other signalling delays could be eliminated it still takes the electromagnetic wave 233 milliseconds to travel from ground to the satellite and back to the ground, a total of 44,000 miles (70,000 km) to travel from you to the satellite company.

Since the satellite is being used for two-way communications, the total distance increases to 88,000 miles (140,000 km), which takes a radio wave 466 ms to travel. Factoring in normal delays from other network sources gives a typical connection latency of 500-700 ms. This is far worse latency than even most dialup modem users experience, at typically only 150-200 ms total latency.

Broadband Internet access - Remote DSL

This allows a service provider to set up DSL hardware out in the country in a weatherproof enclosure. However, setup costs can be quite high since the service provider may need to install fiberoptic cable to the remote location, using horizontal boring equipment at a cost of $1 million per mile ($600/m). Also, the remote site has the same distance limits as the metropolitan service, and can only serve an island of customers along the trunk line within a radius of about 7000 feet (2 km).

Remote DSL access is becoming a sore point for many rural customers, as the technology has been available for some time now and phone companies keep promoting its availability, but at the same time the phone companies keep dragging their feet and are not doing anything to install the remote services. In the United States, this is particularly a problem with the very large multistate conglomerates that serve mostly rural areas.

Broadband Internet access - DSL repeater

This is a very new technology which allow DSL to travel longer distances to remote customers. One version of the repeater is installed every 10,000 feet (3 km) or so along the trunk line, and strengthens and cleans up the DSL signal so it can travel another 10,000 feet (3 km).

Broadband Internet access - 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) 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 ham 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.

Broadband Internet access - 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 300 to 500 feet. By focusing the signal down to a narrow beam with a yagi antenna it can instead operate reliably over a distance of many miles.

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.

Broadband Internet access - T-1/DS-1

T-1/DS-1 is a type of service which is possible for a rural customer desiring broadband speeds, but the cost can be in the hundreds or thousands of dollars per month depending on the distance from the provider.

These are highly-regulated services traditionally intended for businesses, that are managed through Public Service Commissions 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.)

People attempting to establish rural service via a Wireless ISP, ISDN, or T-1 will run into an additional cost issue, where the physical connection (or local loop) is considered separate from the actual Internet service provided from a Point of Presence (POP). This is as if you had to pay the water utility to rent the water main in the ground, in addition to paying to get water delivered through the main from the tower. For a T-1, for example, in the US the loop alone may cost $1200 per month, and the 1.5 megabit per second business-class Internet service (with fixed a IP address and a subnet) may cost an additional $1000 per month. Attempting to reduce monthly costs by establishing your own non-profit Wi-Fi network and sharing the T-1 connection costs has an additional pitfall: your service provider may want to charge you an additional "ISP reseller's fee" of $800 per month.

Broadband Internet access - Broadband issues by country

See also: DSL around the world

Broadband Internet access - Australia

In Australia the telephone monopoly Telstra artificially limits ADSL speeds to 1.5 Mbit/s downstream and 256 kbit/s upstream. It is legally required to sell its ADSL service wholesale to other ISPs, but not its Cable network, which has a speed of 10 Mbit/s. Telstra refuses to provide wholesale Internet access to its Cable network. It is widely believed Telstra limits their ADSL speed to 1.5 Mbit/s to avoid 'income substitution' as they continue to earn access fees 10-50 times higher than typical Australian ADSL service fees for older generation 'E1', 'ATM' and 'Frame Relay' services. Telstra delayed the initial introduction of ADSL into Australia for the same reason. It is also believed that this limit is designed to hinder the adoption of new technologies such as streaming video, IP-TV and VoIP, again to avoid 'income substitution', because in addition to telephony, Telstra has a 50% stake in the pay TV service Foxtel. However Australia has regulated local loop unbundling and as such, other ISPs such as iiNet, Internode and Primus have installed their own DSLAMs in Telstra exchanges, offering customers speeds up to the ADSL limit of 8 Mbit/s. Internode, Adam Internet and iiNet have released and now provide ADSL2+ services at up to 24 Mbit/s [2]. Telstra have announced [3] their plans to offer ADSL2+ in 2006, but with their current ADSL speeds limited, it is likely their ADSL2+ service will not reach 24 Mbit/s either.

Broadband Internet access - Brazil

Foreign comunication groups, the Telefónica, Telemar and Brasil Telecom dispute the largest part of the market offered DSL under the telephone copper net. The speeds vary in 512 kbit/s. It is obligatory to contract with a ISP, this being a reason for judicial disputes and controversies. Wireless LAN ISPs are each day more common in the interior of the country. In big cities some WiFi hotspots are available. As of November 2005, some cable companies started do offer 2, 4 and 8 Mbit/s access (without a ISP obligation) for the same price as 512 kbit/s ADSL connections.

Broadband Internet access - Canada

The competition between the major broadband Internet providers in Canada has recently caused frequent increases in the available bandwidth provided to home users. As of January 2006, a standard broadband Internet package provides 3.0 Mbit/s downstream and 800 kbit/s upstream rates for both cable- and DSL-based services. Some residential service providers (such as Cogeco or Rogers or Shaw) offer speeds of 5 Mbit/s or higher. In western Canada some service providers now offer speeds of up to 7 Mbit/s.

Broadband Internet access - France

In metropolitan France, intense competition between internet service providers has led to the introduction of moderately-priced high speed ADSL (up to 20 Mbit/s for 30€ per month), often including other services such as unlimited free VoIP telephone communications to land lines, and digital television. Conventional dial-up Internet is increasingly considered as outdated. In the third quarter of 2003, the number of broadband subscribers (ADSL or cable) was estimated to about 5 million, out of 24 million Internet users.

Broadband Internet access - Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, as of April 2005 HKBN offers its customers internet access with speeds starting from 10 Mbit/s (19 USD a month) up to 1000 Mbit/s (1 Gbit/s) (215 USD a month) via Fiber to the Building and Fiber to the Home. However the speed to non-Hong Kong destinations is capped to 20 Mbit/s.

Broadband Internet access - Ireland

In Ireland, the telephone monopoly Eircom resisted the introduction of broadband because they were making so much money from per-minute billing on 56 kbit/s dialup. A consumer pressure group, IrelandOffline, was set up which was successful in convincing the government to force Eircom to introduce flat-rate dialup billing. Local loop unbundling (LLU) was slow to take place, with the telecoms regulator Comreg being slow to take action against Eircom. As in many other countries, localities in rural Ireland are unable to get DSL over copper. The government-sponsored Group Broadband Schemes have helped some local communities set up their own internet networks whether with wireless or other technologies.

Broadband is now available in areas near DSL-enabled exchanges (for the 78% of lines that aren't faulty) from several companies other than Eircom. These include Esat BT, Smart Telecom, Clearwire and UTV Internet. Irish Broadband have started offering wireless broadband connections at up to 2Mb symmetric in the major cities.

Broadband Internet access - India

TBC

BSNL, Sify, MTNL, Airtel, and Hathway are some of the major ISPs in India. TRAI has defined broadband as 256 kbit/s or higher. However, many ISPs advertise their service as broadband but don't offer the suggested speeds. Recently, Airtel and Hathway have begun offering unlimited downloads starting from 256 kbit/s.

Broadband Internet access - Japan

In Japan, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) planned a step-up process from dialup (54 kbit/s), ISDN(64 kbit/s), to FTTH. Under the plan, NTT had been selling ISDN lines. But ISDN was not a constant connection line, so users complained.

ADSL service started by a venture company, Tokyo Metric in 1999. After this NTT started and some other companies followed. In 2001, SoftBank started ADSL (12M) service. It was a shocking event, because the price was about only 3000 yen (30US$), which was half of other companies. Competitor and Softbank dropped prices and speeded up (12M, 24M, 50M) again and again. In 2004, Japan has the best cost performance ADSL in the world (50M, 35US$).

At the same time, NTT and electric power companies expand FTTH areas. In most urban area, people can use FTTH (100M,50 US$), but ADSL is still mainstream. In 2005, Kansai Electric Power started 1 Gbit/s FTTH service at 8700yen (90US$).

Broadband Internet access - Malta

Commercial availability of broadband internet, namely through ADSL and cable, has existed since 2000, and is accessible from all areas of the island. As of 2005, ADSL is offered at speeds of 1Mbps and 2Mbps download, and 128Kbps, 256Kbps and 512Kbps upload. All local ISPs offer these speeds, at varying prices. ADSL bandwidth is received through the Seabone Network and operated by DataStream and Vodafone Malta plc. (which are not ISPs). The bandwidth is then sold to the various ISPs which in turn sell it to customers. As of December 2005, DataStream merged with the ISP maltanet, giving maltanet a competitive edge over other ISPs - both DataStream and maltanet are subsidiaries of the national telephone company, Maltacom.

Cable internet is offered by only one ISP, OnVOL, with speeds available at 2Mbps and 4Mbps download, and 256Kbps and 512Kbps upload. OnVOL is a subsidiary of the cable and digital television provider, Melita Cable. The 4Mbps speed offered by OnVOL via cable is the fastest current connection available for the residential user in Malta. OnVOL also offer the standard ADSL connection as mentioned above, however this is not advertised and apparentely only available for businesses.

Broadband connectivity has become very widespread on the island, with many households opting for a broadband connection. Prices vary slightly between ISPs, however, 1Mbps and 2Mbps ADSL connections, and 2Mbps and 4Mbps cable connections are all very reasonably priced, and therefore affordable to the majority of the population. This is largely due to competition between ISPs, and also special connection plans, targetted towards the household user.

Broadband Internet access - New Zealand

Telecom New Zealand has provided 2 Mbit/s broadband internet by way of ADSL since 1999, and its main rival TelstraClear offers cable internet in Wellington and Christchurch. Other internet providers offer satellite broadband, or wholesale ADSL through Telecom. However, Telecom's effective monopoly on the local loop is widely regarded to be an impediment to mass-market broadband uptake in the country. Indeed prior to 2004, speeds greater than 128 kbit/s were extremely expensive with a 10 GB data package over NZ$1000 and extra data charged at over $0.10 per MB. In March 2004, a 256 kbit/s service was introduced with a 10 GB allowance for NZ$70. Later an unbundled bitstream service allowed ISPs to offer speeds greater than 128 kbit/s through their networks for the first time. This was originally 256k bit/s but was later extended to 2 mbit/s.

Most ADSL-based broadband plans offer 128 kbit/s upstream, and can use bandwidth caps limiting speeds to 64 kbit/s after going over an allocated allowance. A 2 Mbit/s plan with a 10 GB allowance through Telecom New Zealand's Xtra is NZD 59.95/month (USD 42.00/month). The only ADSL plans with greater than 128 kbit/s upstream are the same plans mentioned previously, costing over NZ$1000 for 10 GB.

Broadband Internet access - Singapore

Singapore as a small densely populated island nation is the pioneer, and continues to be one of the few countries in the World in which broadband internet access is readily available to just about any would-be user anywhere in the country, with connectivity over 99%. In a government-led initiative to connect the island in a high-speed broadband network using various mediums such as fibre, DSL and cable, the Singapore ONE project was formally announced in June 1996, and commercially launched in June 1998. By December 1998, Singapore ONE is available nationwide with the completion of the national fibre optics network.

In 1997, commercial trials for Singapore Telecommunications' (Singtel) ADSL-based "SingTel Magix" service were undertaken in March, before being launched in June. Also in June, Singapore Cable Vision commmenced trails for its cable modem based services, before being commercially deployed in December 1999. Singtel's ADSL service was subsequently rolled out on a nation-wide scale in August 2000.

In January 2001, the Broadband Media Association was formed to promote the broadband industry. By April the same year, there were 6 broadband internet providers, with the total number of broadband users exceeding 300,000. Pacific Internet introduced wireless broadband services in October 2001.

Broadband Internet access - South Korea

South Korea has the highest broadband penetration in the world (23.17 per 100 population at the end of December 2003). In January 2004, the total number of Internet users in Korea reached 28.6 million - 62% of the population. The vast majority of South Korean broadband users subscribe to ADSL, though cable modem usage has increased significantly since 2004.

Broadband Internet access - Sweden

In Sweden household broadband is mainly available through cable (in speeds of 128 kbit/s to 8 Mbit/s) and ADSL (256 kbit/s to 24 Mbit/s), but in many places also through copper Ethernet LAN networked via fibre MANs connecting buildings. Symmetric broadband Internet access of 100 Mbit/s is available for USD 40 a month, as of October 2005. In Lund, one service offers 1 Gbit/s connections.

ADSL competition has been low in Sweden, mainly due to the fact that nearly all POTS copper is owned by Skanova (a part of TeliaSonera), who have made it difficult and expensive for third parties to gain access to the telephone stations. Nearly all ADSL provided today is through the "Skanova broadband platform", while other actors who have earlier tried to supply ADSL independently have gone over to Skanova (Bonet/Bostream), or gone bankrupt (Xpress ADSL).

Broadband Internet access - United Kingdom

On August 13, 2004 the ISP Wanadoo (formerly Freeserve in the UK) were told by the Advertising Standards Authority to change the way that they advertised their 512 kbit/s broadband service in Britain, removing the words "full speed" which rival companies claimed was misleading people into thinking it was the fastest available service. In a similar way, on April 9, 2003 the Advertising Standards Authority ruled against ISP NTL, saying that NTL's 128 kbit/s cable modem service must not be marketed as "broadband". Ofcom reported in June 2005 that there were more broadband than dial-up connections for the first time in history.[4]. In the third quarter of 2005 with the merger of NTL and Telewest, a new alliance was formed to create the largest market share of broadband users. This alliance brought about huge increases in bandwidth allocations for customers (minimum speed increasing from the industry norm. of 512KB to 2MB home lines) along with the supply of integrated services such as Digital TV and Phone packages.

See also May 2004 New Statesman supplement [5] on broadband.

Broadband Internet access - United States

In the United States, Satellite Internet typically involves equipment and installation costs ranging from $300 to over $600 (the FCC requires professional installation to prevent interference issues), and monthly service costs average from $50 to nearly $80, depending on the speed. In recent times the price has come down. According to an industry trade association, there were 22.5 million cable modem users in the U.S. during Q1 2005. That's up from 17.4 million in Q1 2004.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Broadband Internet access", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki