Maximizing the Use of Broadband in New Jersey
Broadband has become a significant enabler to economic growth, global competitiveness and job creation. It is providing significant opportunities in education, healthcare, workforce development, public safety, government and economic development. New Jersey's State Broadband initiative is underway to build the State Broadband Map and to gain deeper insight into New Jersey's broadband needs across the different community anchor institutions that are critical to the future of our State.
What is Broadband?
The term broadband commonly refers to high-speed Internet access that is always on and faster than dial-up access. The FCC categorizes current generation broadband at internet speeds of at least 4 megabits per second for households and 100 mbps for institutions. However, next generation broadband is quickly becoming the need and the trend and is defined as 100 mbps for households and 1 gigabit for institutions. The upload and download speeds depend on the technology, the amount of data being transmitted, the number of users on the network, and other additional factors.
The next technology game changer is LTE Advanced, mobile broadband, gigabit fiber networks and Smart grid technologies. Many communities are building and implementing these networks to enable global competitiveness, rural and community development, innovation and economic growth.
