Broadband jargon buster

The internet continues to rapidly change the way we live. The language surrounding it evolves at a fast pace too and it is easy to be bamboozled by the jargon.

Digital Derbyshire

Derbyshire County Council's programme to deliver the county's biggest ever transformation of broadband speeds.

BDUK

Broadband Delivery UK is the government's programme working to improve broadband infrastructure across the country. Derbyshire County Council's Digital Derbyshire campaign was awarded £7.39m from the BDUK programme.

Dial-up internet

Before the arrival of broadband, all internet connections relied on using a home phone line. Some households still do. It is slow to connect, has slow download speeds, and means the home phone line cannot be used for telephone calls at the same time as internet usage.

Broadband

A range of technologies which allow high-speed access to the internet. Download speeds must be 512kbps or more to be classed as broadband.

Fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC)

Fibre optic cable is laid from the area's main telephone exchange to cabinets in streets. Copper telephone lines carry the broadband connection from the cabinet to individual properties.

Fibre-to-the-property (FTTP)

Fibre optic cable runs from the area's main exchange directly to individual premises. Generally, this means much faster connection speeds. However, the cost of FTTP is often greater than other broadband technologies and its use is restricted to densely populated areas.

Internet Service Provider (ISP)

An internet service provider offers a retail internet package to consumers. This is a very competitive marketplace.

Wholesale network provider

The company which owns and manages the infrastructure over which ISPs deliver their services.

Kilobits per second (Kbps) and Megabits per second (Mbps)

The measurement of internet connection speeds is measured in Kbps and Mbps, with 1,000 Kbps making up 1Mbps.

Download speeds

Checking your current broadband speed is easy to do via a number of free sites which do not require any software downloading. Visit www.derbyshire.gov.uk/digitalderbyshire for an up-to-date list.

White areas

Over 180,000 homes and businesses in Derbyshire are classified as being in white areas.

Basic broadband white area

Not currently receiving speeds above 2Mbps and not included in any commercial plans for the next three years

Superfast broadband white area

Not currently receiving broadband speeds above 15Mbps and not included in any commercial plans for next three years

Office for Communications (Ofcom)

The Office for Communications (Ofcom) regulates the telecommunications industry in the UK.

Superfast broadband

Digital Derbyshire is working to deliver broadband connections of up to 30Mbps to 90% of Derbyshire homes and businesses by 2015.

Standard broadband

Digital Derbyshire is working to deliver broadband connections of 2Mbps to the remaining 10% of Derbyshire homes and businesses by 2015.