 not to mention the myriad technologies and systems that are emerging, Part IV, "Wireless Communications," is devoted to those tech- nologies, including detailed discussion of wireless broadband access in Chapter 14, "Wireless WANs," and Chapter 15, "WMANs, WLANs, and WPANs." Because broadband doesn't stop at the curb, this chapter also examines the options avail- able for the deployment of home area networks (HANs), which bring broadband deep into the premises. Drivers of Broadband Access Broadband access is incredibly important: The type of access you have may very well determine how well you're able to grow both professionally and personally, affecting your productivity, leisure time, education, health care, safety, and security. Initially, the main drivers propelling subscribers to demand broadband access were the users' desires to find information valuable to them, to be connected, and Chapter 12 Broadband Access Alternatives to surf the Web. While these were initially exciting new services, we now assume them as a standard part of daily life; those who have broadband access can no longer imagine life without it. But today additional motivators-such as the desire to experience the increasingly content-rich multimedia spectacle of the Web and the desire to shuttle, share, and even stream digital photos, music, and video-are driving us to seek even more bandwidth and performance from access lines. We are really just at the beginning of an era of spectacular advanced multimedia applica- tions, SO there is still much work to be done in the area of broadband access. Even as there has been steady growth in the number of broadband access lines around the world, the industry is also developing and introducing new high- performance options, tailored to the demands of a high-definition, on-demand multimedia world. As the world transitions to the realm of digital high-definition TV (HDTV), we will embark on a journey into the second generation of broadband access, looking upon conventional ADSL or cable modems as if th