As well as being 10 - 100 times faster than dial up, broadband is also a permanent connection.

This means that you don't have to 'dial in' every time you want to use the internet. You just start your computer and open a web browser to start surfing.

Dial up access is fine for receiving e-mail, but it takes such a long time to download things like music, video or photos, most people give up before it arrives.

New content

As well as web pages loading pretty much instantly, new types of content like video and music become something you can enjoy.

Having a broadband connection opens up online activities like the new BBC Interactive Media Player (iMP) which will be launched later in 2005.

iMP is a BBC trial that allows anyone to download and view BBC TV programmes from the last seven days and watch them as a high quality video.

Online movies and TV programmes from all round the world are also available as broadband spells the convergence of the internet and television.

This also means more interactive web pages, which include real presenters, 3D environments and live programmes like concerts or festivals.

Online games

You will also be able to play exciting online games that take advantage of your broadband bandwidth.

This might not sound appealing to everyone, but these multi-user games are more like online communities than the PlayStation or X-Box games you might be used to.

Players are represented by 3D models of themselves (called avatars) and can move around an entire 3D world.

Many of these worlds now exist and people are even making a living designing virtual islands and buildings and selling them to other players!

Check out Eve Online or Second Life to get a flavour.

Get creative

But as well as faster downloads, you can also upload information much more quickly.

This is great for sending photos to relatives, video chats (where you can see each other) and sharing files, but it also lets you create new content like music, movies and artwork by collaborating with other people.

Some music software, for example, allows you to work on unfinished pieces written by other musicians.

That way hundreds of users can share the same piece, adding or rearranging sections online.

Another example is the BBC's Film Network where you can watch movies made by other people and submit your own for public scrutiny.

SOURCE  http://www.bbc.co.uk