Broadband offers the following significant improvements over dial-up Internet access:

1. Allows instantaneous Internet access due to broadband’s "always-on nature". There are no delays due to dialing up and logging in or from having to redial due to busy signals. There are also no dropped connections which can frequently happen with dial-up access.
2. Higher data transfer speeds (five times that of dial-up or higher) transform the experience of using the Internet from a frustrating one to an enjoyable one. Web pages load quickly and file transfers are speeded up considerably.
3. Also, higher data transfer speeds make feasible the delivery of high quality audio and video over the Internet in real time as compared to dial-up Internet access which is limited to conveying text, graphics (slowly) and sub-standard audio and video.

These improvements produce a multitude of benefits and their overall effect is that:

Broadband Internet access is beneficial in that it:

• Enhances business competitiveness by increasing worker productivity in using the Internet for a wide variety of tasks including conducting research and reading news online, providing online customer service and support, sending/receiving e-mail with large attachments, purchasing goods and services online, and distance learning.
• Promotes the development of IT companies which are increasingly competing in a global market place. Lack of broadband access or expensive broadband access can force skilled IT companies and people to move to other countries with a more advanced telecommunications infrastructure.
• Facilitates E-Government by speeding up the provision of government services and information over the Internet, placing government procurement online and improving the overall speed and efficiency of the government.
• Encourages teleworking allowing individuals to work from home yet remaining connected to the office, saving commuting time and expense, reducing traffic congestion and air pollution.
• Enriches teaching and learning and supports the changes in educational practice towards being student focussed rather than teacher focussed. Examples include easier and faster access to information, increased opportunities for communicating and sharing, supporting life long learning, allowing differentiation for specific inidvidual needs, providing a platform to showcase creativity and problems solving capabilities. Access to media rich content can also provide additional motivation to learners of all ages.
• Promotes tourism to business and holiday visitors since broadband connectivity is increasingly a significant factor in hotel choice and holiday location choice.
• Allows teleconferencing for holding business and personal meetings quickly, inexpensively and safely over the Internet rather than travelling to a distant location.
• Permits telemedicine to extend the reach of vital medical services in diagnosing and treating ill and injured patients in rural areas with a shortage of skilled medical personnel. It also allows doctors to quickly and inexpensively consult specialists in distant locations for their opinions on medical cases requiring outside expertise.
• Stimulates E-Commerce by allowing faster online shopping and purchasing and enhanced display of product and service information using rich media.
• Allows entertainment and other creative content including books, songs, music, plays, movies, videos, live performances to be delivered over the Internet to a global market.
• Makes more accessible the vast amount of information and media content on the Internet which people can avail themselves of to inform, educate and entertain themselves thereby speeding up the dissemination and evolution of human knowledge.