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Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
Rationale
As technology keeps on improving, lots of new inventions and innovations are
being created. One of these is the BROADBAND. What is a broadband? “The
term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadband). Broadband refers to the ability of a single
access line or wireless or satellite link, connected to a telecommunications network, to
provide support for fast, always-on access to digital content, applications and a range of
services, some or all of which can occur simultaneously. This definition deliberately
focuses on functionality rather than speed.
The history of broadband is the history of the Internet, which went from an
experiment to a trillion-dollar, worldwide industry in 30 years. The Internet preceded
broadband by a few years, starting in the 1950s as a US Defense Department project to
enable university computer systems to communicate with one another for national
security purposes. As human nature would have it, the university computer people
began using the project to communicate with other people.
By 1983, the Internet was being accessed by dial-up modems over ordinary
telephone lines. Mushrooming expansion of Internet users worldwide led Internet
Service Providers (ISPs) to develop faster rates of data transmission, and broadband was
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introduced in 2000. It soon led ISPs to compete for customers, bringing the price of
broadband service down and making it the most popular form of Internet access.
Broadband is 10 times faster than dial-up, making more applications available,
such as downloading movies and music, digital photo processing, interactive games, and
of course, numerous business opportunities. A glimpse at some Internet milestones
shows the progress broadband has brought: 1979, first e-mail service (text and
numbers, no graphics); 1981, text-only bulletin boards; 1985, America Online launched;
1990, DSL (digital subscriber line) prototype invented, video transmission envisioned;
1992, computer bulletin boards; 1993, commercial Internet begins, first ISPs introduced,
Berniers-Lee invents World Wide Web; 2001, cable companies have two-thirds of all
broadband subscribers in U.S.; 2003, 18 million U.S. households have broadband; 2006,
Facebook and YouTube introduced; 2007, millions of UK households have broadband
(Shapley,2009).
Broadband, according to the Federal Communications Commission, is capable of
supporting both downstream and upstream connections at speeds in excess of 7Mbps;
that's about four times faster than dial-up. Many small to medium-size businesses
already have broadband access, as do consumers who want instant-on access, faster
surfing, or a better gaming experience.
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Objectives
This study aims to identify the commonly used broadband by the students of the
University. It also aims to identify what are the leading broadbands used by the selected
respondents in the university and to identify the different services that the broadband
offers.
Significance of the Study
This study will be significant in the fast growing technological community. This
study will be beneficial to students in choosing a good broadband connection that will
help them with their school works. This may also be a great help to students to serve as
their references when they do the same research in the future. Also, this research can
be a great help to parents when deciding or buying broadband to be used in their
houses and to offices that need an internet connection.
Moreover, this paper can be helpful to companies offering different broadband,
such as, Globe, Smart, and Sun Cellular, in improving their services and promos. By
understanding the needs of their users, they can increase the performance of each
broadband connection.
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Chapter 2
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Profile of Respondents
Fifty student respondents of the University were asked to answer the survey
questionnaire. The 50 students were composed of 6 from Education Department, 7 from
Computer Studies Department, 3 Political Science students, 11 from the Accountancy
Department, 3 Nursing students, 7 from the Media Studies, 6 from the Business Courses
and 7 students from the Engineering Department.
Methodology
To accomplish this study the researchers used survey questionnaires to gather
pertinent data to provide conclusions and competent recommendations. A self-
administered questionnaire is employed by the researchers so as to save time. The
questionnaire was structured in such a way that respondents will be able to answer it
easily. This questionnaire is composed of a 6- item question, 4 are just checking the
boxes that correspond to their answers and the remaining two are in an open-ended
form.
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Chapter 3
DISCUSSION
For almost three days of survey, the researchers came up with an information
that will give assistance to broadband subscribers.
List of Broadband Brand
This research paper aims to figure out what are the broadbands that are
commonly used by the student’s population of the University. Fifty students were asked
to answer the self-administered questionnaire to deliver a better result. Fifty
respondents from the University have identified the internet broadband that they
regularly use.
One of these is the Globe tattoo that is a product of Globe, Smart Bro for Smart
and Sun Broadband that is a product from Sun Cellular. These broadbands were
included to the distributed questionnaire. Another broadband was recognized, the Wi-
tribe broadband, which according to the internet, it is the number one broadband in
Pakistan.
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Leading Broadband in the Campus
The identified broadband of the students were Globe Tattoo, Smart Bro, and Sun
Broadband.
Based on the research that they have conducted, Smart Broadband has the
highest percentage.
Figure 1 shows that Smart bro has 24 marks with 48%. Wi-tribe with 1 mark and
2% got the lowest user.
Figure 1
Preferred Broadband
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Levels of Satisfaction of Broadband Users
The respondents were asked to rate their broadband according to its speed and
performance. The choices were Very good, Good, Fair, Poor, and Very poor. Presented
below are the total tallies for the level of Satisfactions for each broadband.
As we see on the Figure 2 below, it was clearly presented that the services that
the broadband providers offered a good performance. As the figure shows, Smart Bro
got 15 marks, 9 marks for Globe Tattoo, 4 marks for Sun cellular and 1 mark for Wi-tibe.
All GOOD in terms of their satisfactory level. No one out of 50 respondents rated each
broadband with Very poor in terms of satisfaction.
Figure 2
Levels of Satisfaction of Broadband Users
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Factors Affecting Broadband Users
Buyers consider things before buying this kind of product. This consideration
may be in terms of services and some because of the influence of others. It may be a
suggestion from a family member, a friend and from the advertisements. Based on
Figure 5, family has the greatest influence in choosing broadband with 58% and being
the lowest with just 6% is choosing in his/her own and if it is just free.
Figure 3
Factors Affecting Broadband Users
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Services offered by the Broadband Providers
Based on the surveys that have been conducted, services and promos are
identified by the students.
For Smart Bro, it has unlisurf50 for one day, unlisurf100 for two days and
unlisurf200 for five days.
For Globe tattoo, it also offered unlimited surfing such as, supersurf50 for one
day, supersurf220 for five days and it has reward points for every purchase of load that
can be redeemed for another promo that will be offered by the network.
For Sun Cellular, there is no offered unlimited surfing. They just offered monthly
payment for the subscribers. They also offered broadband with wi-fi services.
Wi-tribe is the number one broadband in Pakistan. It also offers unlimited
surfing.
Suggestions from the Students
Broadband needs some improvement, so the researchers asked the respondents
to give some suggestions and recommendations in order for the providers to make
some improvements on their services/products.
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Here are the suggestions and recommendations from the selected students from the
University:
Improve their signals, most specially in to far flung places in the country for
better usage.
Minimize blind spot/ dead spot.
Give more promos such as, unlimited surfing for just 25 pesos/ day and 200
pesos for 1 week.
If the user is registered in the unlimited surfing, the students suggested that
it may also have unlimited texting and call.
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Chapter 4
Conclusion and Recommendation
Conclusion
In this research, the researchers have gathered information about the preferred
broadband network of selected students from the University. This also shows the top
three broadband used by students namely, Smart Broadband, Globe Tattoo and Sun
Cellular.
Smart Broadband was found to be the leading network in the university while
Sun Cellular has the lowest number of users. Aside from the three broadband
mentioned, there is also another broadband that has been identified in the survey
questionnaire, the Wi- Tribe. The consumers rated Smart Broadband’s performance
good in terms of its connectivity.
In addition, users also find the broadband to be very useful and practical to use
because of the various promos offered by the company. One of its promos is the
unlimited access to internet; some services are valid for one day and some are valid for
one week. The user’s choice is greatly affected by the family’s suggestion. This only
shows that the family’s influence always comes first in making such decision.
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Recommendation
The researchers recommend the internet providers to further improve their
network services aside from the unlimited services being offered. In addition, internet
connectivity must also be enhanced by building more satellites in rural places and by
minimizing blind spots.
For students, we recommend that they must think wisely before buying a
broadband. They must first consider the availability of the signal in their respected
places for better usage of the product.
The researchers also recommend this to future students who will conduct a
study about the same topic as a reference.
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References
Shapley, Anthony, A Brief History of Broadband, 2009 http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anthony_Shapley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadband
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