Developments are taking place at a furious pace. If Norway is to remain at the forefront, efforts must be made to encourage the rapid development of and easy access to broadband networks and services. There is no time to waste. A network's transmission capacity determines what types of service its users can have access to, and varies in different parts of the network. Backbone networks are the main channels along which large amounts of data are transmitted.
Access networks are the channels from the backbone networks to each individual user.
Both the backbone networks and access networks must have sufficient capacities to handle the services required. The access networks, in particular, may cause bottlenecks for the transmission of broadband services. Our understanding of what broadband is must therefore be viewed in the light of user demand and the capacity needed to deliver the services. The fact that users will demand an ever broader range of services, that the need for return capacity will grow and that more users will be connected to the network at the same time, must all be taken into consideration. Norway needs an infrastructure that is robust, stable and secure, one in which broadband networks are an important element.