How Much Bandwidth is Enough?

[Commentary] How much bandwidth does a business need? As the Federal Communications Commission considers a national broadband plan, it's an important question.

Do we really need the gigabit broadband that Google is planning to experiment with, or are the speeds already commonly available fast enough? Coursey suggests 5Mbps, which is a fairly common speed that is available today, typically from cable modems. 5Mbps Internet connection could be shared by a 40 or more users, provided they aren't all watching video (or downloading it) at the same time. It wasn't so long ago that companies with 50, 60 or even more users commonly shared a single 1.544Mbps T-1 connection and thought its performance was spectacular. Today, with the advent of VoIP telephone systems, video conferencing, streaming audio, and other bandwidth-intensive desktop apps, more bandwidth is required. Getting 5Mbps Internet to every business (and home) in America will be a lofty achievement. While cable modems and other fast connections are common in many areas, much of the nation remains unconnected.