Broadband.gov
Encyclopedia
Broadband.gov is a website run by the Federal Communications Commission
that reports on broadband access
around the country. It is the official website of the National Broadband Plan
. The FCC implemented the National Broadband Plan to document the progress and the future of broadband access and use in the United States
. The National Broadband Plan outlines the different areas broadband affects, and informs the public about room for improvement by both Internet providers
and users.
The main purpose of Broadband.gov is to give the public insight into the National Broadband Plan, and the FCC's plans on how to spread the advancements in broadband technology to the nation. The website details how expanding broadband across the nation will improve health care
, education, the environment, government performance speeds, civic engagement, and public safety in great detail on separate pages. In addition, the website gives continual progress reports on the government's progress on the National Broadband Plan, in both yearly and quarterly installments. Users can also download the National Broadband Plan from Broadband.gov for consumption by the general public. Any changes to the National Broadband Plan, or reports on the effectiveness of the plan thus far are also posted on the website for users to download and examine.
, latency
and jitter
. The government then uses these resources to analyze the nation's broadband quality, and to plan future locations that need improvements. Additional resources include a Deadzone Reporter, which allows the user to inform the government of locations without broadband, the Spectrum Dashboard (runs off another site), which tells the user how broadband connections are spread among various radio frequencies, and a link to the broadband map.gov, which allows the user to find any currently available broadband providers in their current location. Another important point of broadband.gov is to advocate the importance of the advancement of the medical field into the field of technology. Among the most advanced initiatives for using broadband is to improve health care in enhanced medical record-keeping that knits together electronic databases, giving patients and authorized providers instant and centralized access to information such as health histories, treatment regimens and medical images.
Broadband.gov also gives a brief overview to the user of what broadband is, how it relates to the Internet, its uses, and how having broadband Internet in the users' neighborhood will improve their daily living. Legal documents giving a framework of the National Broadband Plan, and other documents that show how the plan is progressing so far, are also included in this section for dissemination by the user.
applications and their affects on our daily routines, or a summary on the latest Consumer Electronics Show
, and what the latest technologies could bring. The blog also gives progress on broadband.gov as well, giving statistical information about the usage of various parts of the website, such as the National Broadband Map.
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
that reports on broadband access
Broadband Internet access
Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just "broadband", is a high data rate, low-latency connection to the Internet— typically contrasted with dial-up access using a 56 kbit/s modem or satellite Internet with inherently high latency....
around the country. It is the official website of the National Broadband Plan
National Broadband Plan (United States)
Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan, unveiled March 16, 2010, is a FCC plan which deals with improving broadband Internet access throughout the United States. One goal was providing 100 million American households with access to 100 Mbit/s connections by 2020...
. The FCC implemented the National Broadband Plan to document the progress and the future of broadband access and use in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The National Broadband Plan outlines the different areas broadband affects, and informs the public about room for improvement by both Internet providers
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
and users.
National Broadband Plan
- Main Article: National Broadband Plan (United States)National Broadband Plan (United States)Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan, unveiled March 16, 2010, is a FCC plan which deals with improving broadband Internet access throughout the United States. One goal was providing 100 million American households with access to 100 Mbit/s connections by 2020...
.
The main purpose of Broadband.gov is to give the public insight into the National Broadband Plan, and the FCC's plans on how to spread the advancements in broadband technology to the nation. The website details how expanding broadband across the nation will improve health care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
, education, the environment, government performance speeds, civic engagement, and public safety in great detail on separate pages. In addition, the website gives continual progress reports on the government's progress on the National Broadband Plan, in both yearly and quarterly installments. Users can also download the National Broadband Plan from Broadband.gov for consumption by the general public. Any changes to the National Broadband Plan, or reports on the effectiveness of the plan thus far are also posted on the website for users to download and examine.
Resources
Broadband.gov offers resources for consumers to see the local effects of the National Broadband Plan, and broadband as a whole. Featured is a Consumer Broadband Test that reports a user's internet download and upload speedsBandwidth (computing)
In computer networking and computer science, bandwidth, network bandwidth, data bandwidth, or digital bandwidth is a measure of available or consumed data communication resources expressed in bits/second or multiples of it .Note that in textbooks on wireless communications, modem data transmission,...
, latency
Latency (engineering)
Latency is a measure of time delay experienced in a system, the precise definition of which depends on the system and the time being measured. Latencies may have different meaning in different contexts.-Packet-switched networks:...
and jitter
Jitter
Jitter is the undesired deviation from true periodicity of an assumed periodic signal in electronics and telecommunications, often in relation to a reference clock source. Jitter may be observed in characteristics such as the frequency of successive pulses, the signal amplitude, or phase of...
. The government then uses these resources to analyze the nation's broadband quality, and to plan future locations that need improvements. Additional resources include a Deadzone Reporter, which allows the user to inform the government of locations without broadband, the Spectrum Dashboard (runs off another site), which tells the user how broadband connections are spread among various radio frequencies, and a link to the broadband map.gov, which allows the user to find any currently available broadband providers in their current location. Another important point of broadband.gov is to advocate the importance of the advancement of the medical field into the field of technology. Among the most advanced initiatives for using broadband is to improve health care in enhanced medical record-keeping that knits together electronic databases, giving patients and authorized providers instant and centralized access to information such as health histories, treatment regimens and medical images.
Broadband.gov also gives a brief overview to the user of what broadband is, how it relates to the Internet, its uses, and how having broadband Internet in the users' neighborhood will improve their daily living. Legal documents giving a framework of the National Broadband Plan, and other documents that show how the plan is progressing so far, are also included in this section for dissemination by the user.
Workshops
Also contained on Broadband.gov is a list of workshops held by the FCC. "The goal of the workshops will be to promote an open dialogue between the FCC and key constituents on matters important to the National Broadband Plan." These meetings are held at the FCC and are put onto the Internet for everyone to have access to them. Past workshops have included how the broadband will be deployed, how schools, small businesses, and on-the-job training will benefit, and the issues that can come up with distributing broadband to the nation. Field events are also planned across the nation to help the FCC get word out on the National Broadband Plan, broadband.gov, and the FCC's plans for the future work on the Broadband initiative. Field events also give the public a chance to respond directly to FCC representatives about their concerns on the National Broadband Plan.Blog
Broadband.gov also encompasses one of the FCC's official blogs, nicknamed the BlogBand. The blog gives an inside view on the National Broadband plan and related issues. Here, various FCC commissioners and chair people make their comments on the future of the National Broadband plan, and the FCC's official stance on various forms of technology, such as the advancement of smartphoneSmartphone
A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
applications and their affects on our daily routines, or a summary on the latest Consumer Electronics Show
Consumer Electronics Show
The International Consumer Electronics Show is a major technology-related trade show held each January in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Not open to the public, the Consumer Electronics Association-sponsored show typically hosts previews of products and new...
, and what the latest technologies could bring. The blog also gives progress on broadband.gov as well, giving statistical information about the usage of various parts of the website, such as the National Broadband Map.