Re: broadband clarification

[brandon () rd bbc co uk (BrandonButterworth)]

> I'm sure that none of you really think that a cable modem
> is a modem

Correct, we know it is

> since it doesn't do AD/DA conversion but we all understand
> that it's simply a device used to connect a customer to a provider.

No, it's a device that converts your data into an analogue signal
(modem) suitable for carriage on broadband plant (cable)

> After all "cable modem" is nothing more than a marketing term so that
> customers have a rough understanding of what the device does (not that
> they always understand that either).

No it's an actual device that performs the function correctly
denoted by it's name. Broadband is the marketing term.

> The question then remains: What (in your opinion) constitutes broadband
> according to the services that have been promised to consumers but not
> yet delivered?

The rates obtained from current day broadband systems (e.g. cable
modems & *dsl) are normally what is being referred to by the contraction
"broadband"

brandon