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There are many advantages of high-speed Internet access:

• The connection is always on, which means you can access the Internet without the need to dial up your Internet service provider over a telephone line.


• Information can be downloaded into your computer at significantly higher speeds than traditional modems.


• Users can go online without tying up their telephone lines.


• Businesses can use broadband networks for videoconferencing, and to let employees telecommute.


• Users can tap into an expanded number of entertainment resources.

Statistics collected by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) indicate that there were nearly 17.4 million high-speed residential and small business subscribers as of December 2002. Of these, approximately 5.5 million used asymmetric versions of DSL technology, approximately 11.3 million used CM, and approximately 0.5 million used another high-speed technology. The number of residential and small business subscribers using DSL and CM technology increased by 58% between December 2001 and December 2002.

High speed Internet access makes the data processing capabilities necessary to use the Internet available via one of several high-speed transmission technologies. These data processing capabilities are "digital" in nature, meaning that they compress vast amounts of voice, video, and data information that are broken down into what are called "bits." These bits become words, pictures, etc. on our computer screens. The transmission technologies that make high speed Internet access possible move these bits much more quickly than do traditional telephone or wireless connections.