The Benefits and Importance of a Broadband - Term Paper Example

Abstract The following essay contains the definition of what actually a broadband is, stating its actual meaning with further describing its benefits and importance in the world as of today. While in the latter part of the research, it has been discussed about the global position of broadband infiltration and the reasons of delayed penetration in the most leading economic markets of the world i.e. United States of America and United Kingdom. The reference page appends fifteen sources in Harvard format Outline I. Broadband – What is it? II. General Benefits of Broadband III. Business and Economic Advantages Due to Broadband IV. Statistical Global Scenario of Broadband V. Broadband Penetration in the US of A VI. Infiltration of Broadband in UK’s Market VII. Reasons for Delayed Saturation in US and UK Markets VIII. Conclusion Introduction Broadband deals with a wide bandwidth that have the capacity of carrying a huge amount of data. Broadband is an internet that allows the activities on the internet to be performed fairly rapidly as compared to that of other means. Broadband has penetrated in most parts of the world, even entering the low-income nations as well. Although United States and UK had delayed response to the benefits provision of broadband but they are catching up with the rest of the world as well. Broadband – What is it? Broadband can be defined in terms of communication as which deals which wide range of frequencies that can carry a lot of information without imposing burden on the users and affecting the usage speed (Wikipedia, n.d.). A bandwidth is supposed to carry the information either in analogue or digital form on it and transfer it to the user from place to the other and it is believed that “The wider the bandwidth, the more information can be carried” (Wikipedia, n.d.). While the same term of broadband is described by Kenneth C. Laudon and Jane P. Laudon (2003, p. 262) that even high speed transitting technologies are called as broadband, when a single communication channel can carry multiple channels simulataneously, that is also referred to as broadband. There are several means by which a data transfer takes place on the communication channel, which includes the digital signals that are meant to transfer the data in the form of binary numbers which are 0 and 1 i.e. each letter or alphabet has a binary code which responds accordingly and the data is interpreted by the modem on the recieveing end. While “an analogue signal is represented by by a continuous waveform that passes through a communication medium”(Laudon K.C. & Laudon J.P., 2003, p 252). The analogue signals which are considered to be a means of transfer of broadband, is faster than that of digital signals. “Analog modems operating at speeds greater than 600 bit/s are technically broadband” (Wikipedia, n.d.). Broadband internet access has become increasingly popular in the past years with the statistics as per stated on Wikipedia (n.d.) that broadband started developing itself in the early 2000’s and according to a study the internet usage increased from 6% in June 2000 to more than 30% in the approximately 03 years. As stated, Broadband technologies include Fiber optic communication, List of device bandwidth, Plain old telephone service, Baseband, Narrowband, Local Loop, Backj Channel. Its implementation encompasses Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), Local Multipoint Distribution Service, WiMAX, Power line communication, Satellite Internet access, Cable modem, Fiber to the premises, High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO) while Broadband telephony, Broadband radio, Broadband receiver, Bandwidth cap come under the umbrella of Broadband applications (Wikipedia, n.d.) General Benefits of Broadband Broadband offers the user to experience whatever a website has to offer on the internet, which a dial-up user may not be privileged with due to lack of speed and the population of users on the bandwidth with data transferring in digital signals. With the commercialization of internet in the past years with many items available on the internet which do not need to be bought physically now have also helped in promoting broadband, since the downloads, web surfing, web shopping takes much less time than a normal dial-up takes as it saves one from “The frustration of being kicked offline due to server overload” (Benefits of Broadband Internet, n.d.) As stated in the article Benefits of Broadband (n.d.), due to high data transfer the broadband is considered to have a better quality of audio and video in real time as compared to that of dial-up and the data transfer speed of broadband is five times higher than that of dial-up indicating a vast difference and a definite reason for consumer preference. Dial-up have a lot of hindrances in smooth web surfing and discourages the user to exploit the venues undiscovered as opposed to that of a broadband user as in broadband “There are no delays due to dialing up and logging in or from having to redial due to busy signals” (Benefits of Broadband, n.d.), hence reducing the amount of frustration and discouragement. Business and Economic Advantages Due to Broadband Business around the world have also recognized the advantages associated with broadband which includes humungous amount of data transferability and carrying a vast treasure of information facilitating the business needs and providing ease in their functions. As per the article of What are the benefits of Broadband? (n.d.), which states that broadband allows one to have fixed-cost internet access which is 40 times faster than standard modem, reception and sending of emails in practically real time, ease of transferability of large audio, visual and other files, flawless integration of different work environments. All these advantages help business achieve competitiveness in a cut-throat environment, makes the vast of audio visual and other information available on the internet more accessible stimulating e-commerce, allows smooth teleconferencing and giving a huge pathway to IT companies to grow (Benefits of Broadband, n.d.) Even to economy, broadband has a lot to offer, facilitating countries in developing their edge over the other in order to be emerge successful. It increases the efficiency of E-Government with information more readily available to the government, it increases employment opportunities due to teleworking by people working from home through internet saving time and expense also enriching teaching and learning along with promotion of tourism (Benefits of Broadband, n.d.). Thus, that’s how broadband has helped in improving the overall economy. As stated in the article of Economic Impacts of Broadband in Victoria, the Victorian government has started a research on broadband effect on its economy with the results revealing the prediction of increment in the Gross State Product growth by 0.82%, in net, the benefit to economy of $15 billion with raise in investment by 10.46% over the period of 2004-2015. Statistical Global Scenario of Broadband The global scenario of broadband depicts as per the statistics of Wikipedia (2005), the total subscriber but 100 inhabitants amount to be, in Iceland-78,017, South Korea-12,190,711, Denmark-1,350,415, Switzerland-1,725,446, Canada-6,706,699, Sweden-1,830,000, Belgium-1,902,739, Japan-22,515,091, United States-49,391,060, United Kingdom- 9,539,900, France-9,465,600, Australia-2,785,000, Germany-10,706,600, Italy-6,896,696, Spain-4,994,274, Ireland-270,700, Czech Republic-650,000, Turkey-1,530,000. In short, the earlier stated statistics portraying the widespread usage of broadband and its penetration all around the world. It is now in a position of transforming itself from a luxurious facility into service of necessity. There are lessons that developed countries could learn from developing countries as “Both developed and developing nations have stimulated capital expenditures for infrastructure in ways United States public and private sector stakeholders have yet to embrace,” (Frieden, 2005, pp. 595 – 613) Broadband Penetration in the US of A If we talk about recent years there were “39 million, or 13 percent of Americans, connecting via broadband in the U.S.” (Argaez, 2005). Even then “the country is too far behind in the world in broadband penetration per capita” (US in 16th Place in Broadband Penetration, FCC to Blame, 2006). Although there has been a statement made by the Communication Commission Chairman Kevin Martin quoted in the research of Broadband Reality Check by S. Derek Turner (2005, p.2) that US leads the number of broadband connections in the world and the broadband providers are engaged in neck-to-neck competition which later is stated by the author as a very misleading remark since the users of broadband are still less than what they should be and secondly there isn’t enough competition for broadband available. As on December 2003, the acceptance for broadband in the US was increased to approximately 43%, ranking itself as 11th in the world and as per the estimate it should increase to 50% by June 2004 (US Broadband Penetration Jumps to 42.85% - US Ranks 11th Worldwide - January 2004 Bandwidth Report, 2004). Infiltration of Broadband in UK’s Market According to the article of UK broadband penetration rises to 55.7 per cent (n.d.), in the statistics of infiltration of broadband in the UK jumped from approximately 54% in June 2005 to almost 56% in August 2005 showing a shift of users to the broadband, while if the gap of one year was taken into notice that is August 2004 to August 2005 there was found to be an increment of round about 5%. The fact being apparent that the users of dial-up are reducing in the UK with the remaining total left to be less than 50% of the total population that uses internet and is suspected to reduce even further in future. As on December 2005, on the basis of number of broadband lines per 100 inhabitants, UK’s ranking was found to be 13th among the world (US, UK are 12th, 13th in broadband penetration, 2006) In order to successfully proliferate, there has to be present a medium of exchange of communication as efficient as possible, UK needs more than DSL or in other words in needs to improve its penetration of broadband in the market. The current prevailing condition of the entire Europe stated in statistics can be described as “In terms of the penetration of broadband technology mainland Europe is way behind the world frontrunners South Korea (2004: 24 connections per 100 inhabitants), Japan (16 connections) and the USA (12 connections) (see chart). At present 23% of the 144 million broadband connections in the world are located in the USA, 5% in Germany, 4% in the UK and 3% each in France and Italy” (Deutsch Bank Research, 2005 p. 4). Reasons for Delayed Saturation in US and UK Markets The broadband penetration in the US has occurred quite delayed as compared to other nations in the world such as China which occurred due to several reasons. Despite of President Bush’s motto of achieving universal, affordable broadband by 2007, there are still some queries that need to be resolved. The broadband in the US is marginally expensive as compared to their cable and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) as “The gap between those who can afford broadband and those who cannot persists in the United States despite growth in the total number of broadband connections” (Turner, 2005, p.10). Along with that one of the other reasons being the unavailability of enough competition among broadband providers with DSL and Cable providers. Comparing the world powers with a country like South Korea who is ahead of US in broadband penetration due to certain policies, consumer demands and supporting technologies (Lee & Olmsted, 2003). “Institutional and regulatory policies that have hampered broadband development in the United States” (Frieden, 2005, pp. 595 – 613) UK internet users have satisfied users of DSL and dial-ups and therefore the emergence of broadband was not much of an appealing concept to them as their existing providers were doing a good job in providing them with quality service. “The European Union has developed an effective new regulatory framework for electronic communications, yet follows both Asia and the United States” (Fransman, 2006). “Overall broadband access have fallen, driven down, by a combination of increasing competition and regulatory pressure with the balance of these factors varying by country” (Soumitra, 2003, p. 1998). Highlighting that despite of a late entrance in the West, there is now a boom in that industry with many competitors entering and offering better prices. According to the article of ‘UK Passes US in Broadband Penetration - US Falls to 13th Overall yet leads all countries in total subscribers - October 2005 Bandwidth Report’ (2006), the historic position of 2001 – 2005 the position of UK and USA along with various countries is shown below. This late arrival in the US and UK was because the users of internet were pretty much satisfied with what they were receiving hence they it took them time to catch up with the benefits of broadband. Conclusion Finally, it would be right to say that broadband has become a mean for countries to move towards the pathway of advancement and success as it facilitates an economy in many ways in terms of employment, increasing education, information availability for government etcetera. Although the above mentioned two countries are the trend setters in todays world and it seems like a surprise for them not to embrace a new technology but it is an undoubted truth. Slowly but steadily they have entered the race and are all ready to compete. “Studied in the US and UK indicate differences in the adoption rate between urban and rural households and businesses suggesting an urban rural divide” (Paul, 2003, p.150) Bibliography Argaez E.D. Broadband Usage in USA [Internet] Available from: [Accessed 16 October 2006] Benefits of Broadband Internet [Internet] Avaialable from: [Accessed 16 October 2006] Benefits of Broadband [Internet] Available from: [Accessed 16 October 2006] Economic Impact of Broadband on Victoria [Internet] Available from: [Accessed 16 October 2006] Fransman M. (2006). Global Broadband Battles. Why US and Europe Lag while Asia Leads. Description Auth and Info Review. Stanford University Press. Available from: [Accessed 19 October 2006] Frieden R. (2005). 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Available from [Accessed 30 October 2006] UK Passes US in Broadband Penetration - US Falls to 13th Overall yet leads all countries in total subscribers - October 2005 Bandwidth Report. (2006). [Internet]. Available from [Accessed 09 November 2006] Read More