Broadband facts, fiction and urban myths

There has been a lively debate surrounding the Australian Governments plan to build a fibre-based National Broadband Network. Unfortunately, a variety of urban myths about the NBN have evolved and spread over the past 12 months. Some of these myths are based on misunderstandings of the capabilities and limitations of broadband technology and some are out of alignment with experience in countries where broadband access is more advanced than in Australia. The objective of this article is to correct some of these misconceptions, to debunk some of the more common urban myths and to provide some basic facts for the lay person on the capabilities and limitations of various broadband technologies.