A Real Estate Professional’s Glossary of Common Telecommunications Terms
Bandwidth - A term used to describe the capacity of wiring to carry communications signals or how much information can travel along a pathway in a given period of time. A typical data transmission would involve many thousands or millions of bits per second.
Broadband – A communications channel having a bandwidth greater than a voice grade channel characterized by high data transmission speeds.
Bundled Services - The combination of several services, such as local telephone, long distance telephone, internet access and video, with a single bill to the customer.
Cable System - A multichannel video programming distribution facility consisting of a set of closed transmission paths and associated signal generation, reception and control equipment designed to provide cable service (including video programming) to multiple subscribers within a community.
Cell Site - The location of a cellular radio antenna.
Cellular Telephone System – A land based mobile telephone system wherein channels assigned to the system are divided among many geographic “cells”, each covering a defined service area. Each cell is served by its own low powered transmitter and receiver and is connected to the telephone network through landline telephone trunks. As a user moves from one cell to an adjacent cell the call is instantly shifted from one transmitter/receiver to the next one.
Central Office (C.O.) - Telephone company facility where customers’ lines are joined to switching equipment used for connecting customers to each other, locally and for long distance.
Coaxial Cable - A cable consisting of an outer conductor concentric to an inner conductor, separated from each other by insulating material. It can carry a much higher bandwidth than a copper twisted pair.
Collocation - The process whereby the incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) allows another carrier (such as a CLEC) to place its equipment in the ILEC’s central office and connect to the ILEC’s equipment.
Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) - Usually refers to a facilities-based carrier as opposed to a reseller. A CLEC competes with the incumbent Local Exchange Carrier and may provide one or more services such as local telephone, long distance, internet access and other services.
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Copper - Shorthand for copper wire. Two insulated copper wires twisted around each other are called a twisted pair, which is the predominant type of telephone wire. Copper wiring is rated by categories, and that with a tighter twist has a higher category level and greater bandwidth. Category 5 copper has greater bandwidth than lower categories of copper wire (such as category 3 copper) and is preferable for data transmission.
Demarcation Point - The point at which the telephone company’s network ends and the building owner’s or customer’s wiring begins.
Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) - A satellite based system for transmitting TV programs which can be received by small dish antennas often installed in backyards or on the roofs of houses or apartment buildings.
Digital Subscriber Line – also known as DSL – Using a high speed modem to convert analog transmissions into digital transmissions and a regular telephone line, this service results in multichannel transmission speeds in the range of 6 to 10 mbps.
DS-1 and DS-3 - Digital signal speeds. These are digital telecommunications services offered on T-1 and T-3 carriers (see T-Carrier).
Fiber Optic Cable (Fiber) - Filaments of glass or other transparent materials sheathed in an insulator through which a light beam may be transmitted for long distances. Fiber is used to transmit digital information by bursts of light.
House and Riser - The telephone wiring distribution system that leads from the basement to the upper floors of a building.
Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier (ILEC) – The Local Exchange Carrier serving a particular property or region prior to the onset of competition in the local telephone market. For example, the Regional Bell Operating Companies are Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers within their respective original service areas.
Inside Wiring - The telephone wiring located inside a customer’s premises or building, beginning at the telephone company’s demarcation point (where the telephone company’s network ends) and extending to the customer’s telephones, fax machines and other communications equipment.
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) - A digital communications system capable of handling several voice and data channels at once on copper wire, offering high transmission speeds.
Internet Service Provider (ISP) - A company which provides an interface between customers and the world wide web. By deploying special electronic equipment in a building, an ISP can offer tenants high speed internet access.
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Kbps - Kilobits or thousands of bits per second.
Local Area Network (LAN) - A data communications network over a limited area, such as an office, a building or a corporate campus.
Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) - The local telephone companies, which can be a Regional Bell Operating Company or an independent and which provide local telephone service.
Mbps - Megabits or millions of bits per second.
MDU - Multiple dwelling unit. In a communications context, this term refers to a multi- tenanted apartment building, and is sometimes also used for commercial office buildings. See MTE.
Minimum Point of Entry (MPOE) – A point as close as practicable to the property line or 12 inches inside the building foundation.
MTE – Multiple tenant environment. In a communications context, this term refers to a multi-tenanted office building or campus, and is sometimes also used for apartment buildings. See MDU.
OC – Optical carrier. OC-1 service provides transmission speeds of 51.84 Mbps over fiber optic lines. Higher levels of service are direct multiples of OC-1 (e.g. OC-48 is 48 times OC-1).
OTARD – Anacronym for over-the-air-reception-devices. An example would be a satellite dish antenna mounted on a home to receive DBS signals.
Personal Communications Service (PCS) - A digital wireless technology similar to cellular telephone service, but operating with lower power over higher frequencies. Will require many microcell sites, or radio relay stations with antennas.
Point of Presence (POP) – Originally, a location where a long distance carrier interfaces with the network of a local exchange carrier. This term now includes equipment installed in a building to aggregate telephone or data service for transmission outside the building
Regional Bell Operating Company (RBOC) - The acronym used for local telephone companies created in 1984 as part of the breakup of AT&T. The four remaining RBOCs are Bell South, SBC Communications, U.S. West and Verizon Communications.
Reseller - A company that buys services from a carrier at bulk rates and resells and bills customers under its own brand name.
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Riser - The shaft, conduit, pipe or other path between floors of a multi-story building through which telephone, cable and other utility wires run.
Satellite Master Antenna Television (SMATV) - SMATV systems are primarily rooftop reception facilities that serve multiple dwelling establishments, such as apartment complexes and hotels. SMATV service uses wire or cable to deliver signals received on a rooftop antenna through the building.
SONET – An anacronym for synchronous optical network. An optical interface standard commonly used for broadband service provided over fiber optic lines. A SONET ring requires two different fiber optic lines, and if one line is cut, traffic automatically flows over the other.
T-Carrier - A hierarchy of digital systems designed to carry voice and other signals in digital form. The T-1 carrier has 24 channels and transmits at 1.544 mbps. It operates over copper wire. The T-3 carrier operates on a fiber optic line, has up to 672 channels and transmits at up to 44.736 mbps, or 1,553 times as fast as a 28.8 kbps modem.
Wide Area Network (WAN) – A data communications network covering an extended geographic area, using common carrier-provided lines.
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