There are more and more uses for high speed Internet connections today than several years ago. When the Internet was initially developed, most of the traffic was used to view both text and graphical web pages, send and receive email, and transfer small amounts of data from one location to another. Dial-up connections were more than adequate to meet the low bandwidth requirements of the users of this new information transport medium.
No one could have imagined how the Internet would have exploded throughout the mid and late 1990s. Personal computer owners began to sign up for service with local and national Internet service providers like Stargate and America On-Line. New terms like E-mail, chat rooms, instant messaging and surfing the net were being discussed all around us. Many businesses quickly realized the benefit of having a web presence and established web sites to expand their product and service offerings and completely new entities like FreeMarkets, eBay, and Amazon.com
English: Logo of en:Serious Tubes Networks, a Stoc...
Ciaoweb Free Internet Access
Aspen Communication's wireless access point in Tyl...popped-up to take advantage of the new technology. It was growing at a feverous rate and continues to change and adapt.
As the Internet continues to expand and evolve, the need for increasingly faster connections continue to be necessary. There are many forces driving this industry in this direction. From downloading the latest music, streaming video, and Internet gaming, higher bandwidth requirements are driving this increased capacity between the desktop user and their Internet service provider. The National Cable and Telecommunications Association stated that high-speed access "provides its users with real-time access to video, audio, and interactive game services, thus enhancing both their usefulness and enjoyment" (NCTA, 2005). The following graph provided by CableFax Databriefs shows the expansion of telephone DSL and cable Internet expansion over the 2002 to 2004 timeframe:
The home user is not the only individual purchasing high-speed...