Broadband
Broadband can in short be explained as a fast access to internet that was introduced in the 1990s. To be able to connect to broadband it required set up broadband cables, and the most common technique for this is fiber optics. Broadband development is today considered a crucial and integral part of infrastructure in Sweden.
The limit for what is considered broadband or not is under constant discussion in the field and different countries. Some say that the lower limit, to and from the user, starts at 0,5 Mbit/s while the Swedish It commission wants it to be 5 Mbit/s.
The number of households in Sweden that have access to broadband today are among the biggest in the world. This is due to the fact that the development is considered crucial for industries, companies and consumers. The price for broadband in Sweden is one of the lowest in the world, according to a research from 2006.
- Sweden is one of the most developed countries in broadband
- Broadband allows access to fast internet to and from users
- What is considered broadband is contentious
- The price for broadband in Sweden is one of the lowest in the world
- Fiber optics allows fast broadband in Sweden
- Mobile broadband is a wireless technique
- With WIFI you can connect to broadband via units that have built-in WIFI
Speed and development
Mobile broadband implicates an internet connection via the mobile network which requires a SIM card. With technique today it’s possible to use both 3G and 4G to get fast speed. 3G has a theoretical max speed of 16 Mbit/s and with 4G you can get up to a speed of max 1000 Mbit/s.
Mobile broadband allows internet access to regions where broadband via cables isn’t completely developed yet. This has however hindered the government’s goals of access to fast broadband in 9 out of 10 households in 2020. Fast speed means 100 Mbit/s i both directions.
To speed up development of broadband the government has tagged money meant for village community. This is still expensive to build in sparsely populated areas that are located far from existing broadband networks.
More than just internet
Broadband doesn’t just mean internet access to websites. Fast broadband also enabled digital TV and Ip telephony. However, the broadcasts of digital TV are conducted through a closed network. IPTV allows a big range of TV channels to subscribe to compared to analogue TV broadcasts.
IP telephony or broadband telephony is telephony that is directly transfered via data packages, in essence via internet, rather than traditional mobile or telephone network. The back-draw of IP telephony is the increased risk of disconnected calls compared to traditional telephony. However, development has made the sound quality much better.
Access to fast broadband will be much more important in the future. This is due the fact that more objects in our homes and society will be connected to internet in the future. The so called “internet of things” require constant connection to work.