In the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 1999 report on broadband access, the agency defined broadband as “the capability of supporting, in both the provider-to-consumer (downstream) and the consumer-to-provider (upstream) directions, a speed (in technical terms, "bandwidth") in excess of 200 kilobits per second (kbps) in the last mile. This rate is approximately four times faster than the Internet access received through a standard phone line at 56 kbps”[i] In the FCC’s second report in 2000, the agency suggested not to use the term “broadband” at all, because of its “now common and imprecise usage”.[ii] In later reports, the FCC then came back to its earlier definition from 1999. This clearly illustrates that when reading the literature on broadband, a single common definition of broadband does not exist.

Numerous definitions make it difficult for policy makers to get a first understanding of the functionality, characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of broadband technologies. A basic understanding of these technologies, however, is necessary for informed and effective policy decision-making. The goal of this chapter is to offer such an understanding not by adding another definition of broadband, but rather by offering a synopsis of the various, existing definitions, to derive a few common characteristics. These characteristics present a common denominator necessary to understand the basic concept of broadband technologies. Such common characteristics can be described as follows:

• Broadband is characterized by bandwidth and speed of a network connection. Broadband is usually used to refer to a type of data transmission. Simply speaking, a broadband connection is a connection that supports the transmission of data using an extreme broad bandwidth. This allows for a high-speed transfer rate. Broadband connections have the capability to run virtually all data intensive applications without delays. Broadband connections allow for multimedia-rich applications such as streaming audio and videoconferencing. Definitions of a necessary threshold of bandwidth greatly vary and often depend on the quality of the infrastructure that already exists. The FCC defines broadband access at a relatively low speed. Generally a factor-of-10 improvement over traditional dial-up modems offering 56 Kbps is seen as broadband connections.
  
• Broadband connections are typically always on. Because broadband access is always on, unlike dial-up access, there is no wait to connect to the Internet. It is assumed that people with broadband access tend to leave their personal computers turned on and do use the Internet for data intensive business tasks which would be too expensive to perform via the Internet if only a dial up connection was available. The presence of broadband access also means that the telephone line is no longer tied up when accessing the Internet.
  
• Broadband allows for data intensive home and business applications: As broadband is characterized by offering high-speed connections, rather than a technology, broadband typically includes data, video, text and voice transmission. Broadband allows people to telecommute effectively by providing a similar environment to that experienced when physically present in their office: simultaneous telephone and computer access, high-speed internet and intranet access for e-mail, file sharing, and access to corporate servers etc. Access to such application and the necessary bandwidth is assumed to provide business opportunities especially for developing countries.
  
• Broadband is a type of a connection rather than a single technology: As broadband is a quality of a service or connection, it can be offered by various technologies. There are many competing broadband access technologies being brought to bear to address last-mile connectivity. According to the International Engineering Society, the following can be distinguished:

1. Optical Fibre
2. Wireless Technologies (802.16-2004WiMax and 802.11 WiFi)
3. BPL (Broadband over Power Line)
4. Copper / DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)
5. Cable Modems
6. Satellite 

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