What is broadband and why is it important anyway?

Broadband Internet (FCC defined as 25mbps download/3mbps upload) is critical for today's digital economy, educational resources, public safety, and more.
The state of Washington has established the State Broadband Office and set the goal of every home and business in the state having access to at least 150/150mbps broadband service by the year 2028.

The reason broadband deployment is increasingly considered an essential infrastructure is that in today's connected world it is extremely difficult to fully engage in learning, working, conducting business, or accessing healthcare without the availability of high-speed Internet services. As the effort to get electricity out to all Americans was 100 years ago, high-speed Internet infrastructure is the critical infrastructure push of today.

Fiber-optic broadband infrastructure can support unlimited bandwidth use and has minimal signal degradation over long distances.
Copper wire loses about 94% of its bandwidth capacity over 100 meters, where fiber-optic line only loses about 3% over the same distance.
Broadband can also be delivered wirelessly. Wireless can be a good solution when wireline infrastructure is cost-prohibitive due to difficult geography or low building density. However, wireless infrastructure can be impacted by weather, trees, and other environmental factors.
The sheet below can give you a rough idea of what your household broadband bandwidth needs may be.