What one should know before takeing a broadband service?
 

I am going to take broadband service from our local cable operator. They only told me that it is not any Cable Modem Broadband Service and there will be no modem in consumer's house. There will be a router in the Service Provider's office and lines will be distributed through optic cable network. The bandwidth is 48 kbps. What particulars/ specifications / parameters should I know from them before taking this connection so that I can communicate to internet using this service by using Linux?
Regards:newbie: