What is broadband?

In a simple way we can refer to broadband as a fast way to transmit and receive information.

Networking professionals have a more specific explanation to the term:

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). Related terms are wideband (a synonym), base band (a one-channel band), and narrowband (sometimes meaning just wide enough to carry voice, or simply "not broadband," and sometimes meaning specifically between 50 kbps and 64 kbps).

Our broadband is based on so-called E1 lines channelled through our equipment on to our ITOWN node network. An E1 connection is equivalent to a minimum of 2Mbps (2 million bits transmitted or received per second, where a bit is a unit of digital information).

For comparison, a normal dial-up service using a telephone line will give a speed of up to about 33kbps, but quite often much lower than this, depending on the quality of the line and also the length from the exchange. If you are familiar with using this method to connect to the internet, you have probably experienced the inconvenience of being disconnected from time to time, caused by noise on the line or other interference. Our system is not affected by this kind of disturbances, in fact our service is always connected, whether you use it or not.

Broadband offered in our area by other providers is typically transmitted through telephone line cables or some other cable system. The speed of transfer varies greatly, but true broadband service starts at download speeds above 64kbps. Many subscribers of 384kbps ADSL lines are not experiencing this speed, especially in peak hours, which is during the day and the evening. We call this congestion, and with too many subscribers this will automatically happen. We will do our utmost to provide you with a system that at all times will be real broadband, and averagely in the 512kbps area or above. Most users will find that this opens up a whole new world in making use of the internet.