Internet broadband

Not to be confused with the telecommunications signaling method known as Broadband.
Broadband subscriptions in 2005

Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just broadband, is high data rate Internet access—typically contrasted with dial-up access over a modem.

Dial-up modems are generally only capable of a maximum bitrate of 56 kbit/s (kilobits per second) and require the full use of a telephone line—whereas broadband technologies supply at least double this bandwidth 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 1.0 Mbit/s, the 2006 OECD report [1] is typical in counting only download data rates equal to or faster than 256 kbit/s as broadband, and the US FCC currently defines broadband as anything above 768 kbit/s [2] [3]

Data rates are defined in terms of maximum download because several common consumer broadband technologies such as ADSL are "asymmetric"—supporting much slower maximum upload data rate than download.

"Broadband penetration" is now treated as a key economic indicator.