Broadband

Broadband is high-capacity internet access that carries data at higher rates than traditional dial-up connections. It uses technologies such as cable, fiber, digital subscriber line, and fixed wireless.

Fiber-optic communication: A communication method that sends information as light pulses through optical fibers. Fiber broadband carries data as light, enabling high capacity over long distances.
Bandwidth: A measure of a communication channel's capacity to carry data over time. Broadband speed claims often use bandwidth as shorthand for data-carrying capacity.
Video streaming: The continuous delivery of audio or video data for playback as it arrives. Broadband supports higher-resolution streaming without relying on dial-up transfer rates.
Dial-up Internet access: Internet access that uses a telephone modem to place a call over a voice telephone line. Dial-up is the slower traditional connection against which broadband is often defined.
Digital divide: The gap between people who have effective access to digital technologies and those who do not. Unequal broadband availability and affordability contribute to unequal digital participation.
Cable Internet access: Internet service delivered over coaxial cable networks originally built for television. Cable broadband shares neighborhood infrastructure, so local demand can affect available capacity.
Data rate: The amount of data transmitted per unit of time, usually measured in bits per second. Internet plans commonly state broadband performance as a maximum data rate.
Video conferencing: Real-time communication that transmits live audio and video between participants. Reliable broadband enables interactive calls that require sustained two-way data flow.
Narrowband: A low-capacity communication channel with a narrower frequency range or lower data rate than broadband. Narrowband connections cannot support the data rates associated with broadband.
Universal service: A public-policy principle that essential communication services should be available to everyone. Broadband policy often extends universal-service goals to high-capacity internet access.

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