1 | | Preferred Prepaid Broadband Services of Selected Students

of the University

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

2 | | Preferred Prepaid Broadband Services of Selected Students

of the University

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.

3 | | Preferred Prepaid Broadband Services of Selected Students

of the University

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.

4 | | Preferred Prepaid Broadband Services of Selected Students

of the University

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.

5 | | Preferred Prepaid Broadband Services of Selected Students

of the University

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.

6 | | Preferred Prepaid Broadband Services of Selected Students

of the University

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

7 | | Preferred Prepaid Broadband Services of Selected Students

of the University

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

8 | | Preferred Prepaid Broadband Services of Selected Students

of the University

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

9 | | Preferred Prepaid Broadband Services of Selected Students

of the University

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.

10 | | Preferred Prepaid Broadband Services of Selected Students

of the University

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.

11 | | Preferred Prepaid Broadband Services of Selected Students

of the University

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.

12 | | Preferred Prepaid Broadband Services of Selected Students

of the University

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.

13 | | Preferred Prepaid Broadband Services of Selected Students

of the University

References

Shapley, Anthony, A Brief History of Broadband, 2009 http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anthony_Shapley

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadband

14 | | Preferred Prepaid Broadband Services of Selected Students

of the University