What does Broadband mean?
In general, broadband refers to telecommunication in which a wide band of frequencies is available to transmit information. Because a wide band of frequencies is available, information can be multiplexed and sent on many different frequencies or channels within the band concurrently, allowing more information to be transmitted in a given amount of time (much as more lanes on a highway allow more cars to travel on it at the same time).
To the average consumer, broadband is high-speed access to the Internet. More specifically, broadband is a cable service , DSL service, wireless and satellite options. Broadband is virtually synonymous with high-speed Internet access.
Broadband offers far more then high-speed Internet access, it also offers access to new technology and services that target broadband customers. Among the new services that fall squarely in the view of broadband:
Web-based video-on-demand is a reality today, with full-length motion pictures available for streamed or downloaded viewing, subscription packages of Major League baseball, around-the-clock news feeds and more. Web video, however, is still in its infancy given that the majority of home users are still on dial-up. Once we're all broadband, video content of all kinds delivered via broadband-enabled web connections could be as commonplace as broadcast, cable or satellite feeds.
Interactive TV is also alive and kicking today, but is nothing compared to what it will be once the Internet reaches TV sets. Even though the tide of Internet TV applications has rushed forth since the late-1990s, and just as quickly receded, no one doubts that someday, and someday soon, the web will reach the TV set, whether via modem-equipped set-tops, home networking or some combination of the two. Once this happens, other technologies developed for broadband, such as videoconferencing using VoIP and VOD via the web, will take over the most mass-market of venues: the living room.