What is broadband?

In order to determine who is eligible for grant money from the broadband programs in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is trying to define "broadband," "unserved" and "underserved."

The NTIA has asked the public and interest groups what they think the definitions of these key terms be and many have weighed in.

In an article in Telephony Online, it is cited that both the California Public Utlities Commission and the Communications Workers of America are pushing for a faster definition of "broadband" than as defined by the Federal Communications Commission. The definition that they are calling for is three megabits per second downstream and 1 Mb/s upstream.

Several other organizations - most notably broadband and wireless Internet providers - are advocating for a much slower definition of broadband.

Two groups - the Consumer Federation and Consumer Union - are recommending a definition of 4 Mb/s as the minimum speed for broadband.

Broadband stimulus hopefuls race to define 'broadband' (Telephony Online)