Broadband: the essential utility – Intelligent Community Forum Canada report
From http://www.icf-canada.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Broadband-the-Essential-Utility.pdf Guiding Principles of Broadband Internet An Internet connection must support these guiding principles to be designated “broadband,” (see “Endnotes” for technical specifications that underpin guiding principles). The Internet connection must be: Standards Based Architecture: The system will interoperate with all other systems and is easy to support. Highly Available and Scalable: The network connection is available at any moment in time, wherever users, places or things need it, any time they need it, and the system can scale in capacity to all sessions and applications dynamically without significant additional capital outlays or system delays. Symmetrical: the bandwidth (information carrying capacity) of the network connection is symmetrical. This means the speed and capacity of data download and upload are equal. Symmetry[…]