The current plain old Telephone Service (POTS) that is currently being used by our company is based under six telephone land line components. The local loop can be any size of copper wire which allows telephones to be connected to one central office and back to this office. The central office is a local exchange which serves multiple customers in one certain location. Central office will support up to 10,000 customers in one three-digit prefix and can have more than one local exchange. Local Exchange Carriers (LEC) are local companies that provide their service in one local area and can serve multiple offices based on the population of that certain location. Point of Presence (POP) is described as long distance carrier who can meet up with another carrier to provide long distance telephone service to multiple locations. Long distance systems are multiple companies providing service within a certain local access and transport area. These connect through LECs to provide the long distance service. Fixed-Line Telephone systems are the oldest technology. Fixed-Line is telephones in which are connected through one singe line in an office. These are usually connected through a central office or a single exchange to provide the Fixed-Line Telephone service to its customer.
There are also four Telecommunications Network Components that are great technologies that can be used. Cellular telephones are wireless telephones that can be taken with you anywhere you happen to go. Cellular telephones are made up of very small areas called cells. These cells are connected to a mobile telephone switching office which is done over telephone lines. These telephone lines can be made up of many different types of cable, for example copper and fiber optic. Basically cellular telephones use radio frequency within the cell to provide the phone to be able to communicate with a tower in a certain location. Voice for cellular phones use 1G which was the very first generation of cellular phones and these phones transmitted the information in the same fashion of land line phones which used the analog format. Data is a little different it needed newer technology to be able to transmit through cellular phones. Data was brought to the cellular phones when 2G technology became available. It only grew from their with 3G and now we have 4G technology which allows the consumer to access data such as the internet in very fast speeds. Telephone network topology is made up of many components; Communication services relay information to and from customers over a very large global network. The topologies are divided into different factors to be able to handle the information that is coming and going from the consumer. One of these topologies is Demarcation. The demarcation point is a point at which the service providers cables stops and the customer is now responsible for the cabling and equipment beyond that point. The demarcation point is usually installed in a main location at the customer’s site not too far inside the building. The demarcation provides cable to the customer’s network equipment through a OSP (outside plant) which is usually a tie in to the equipment. It can also be done with a FTTH network within a customer’s location through copper or a fiber optic cable. Another part of the topology is Access Networks. This is a very important part in which it connects the customer to the providers system. This is linked to the customer to multiple types of cabling between the customer and the local exchange network. Networks can be linked to many different types of customers in many different ways but they are all connected back to the Local Access Network provided by the service provider. Metro Networks (MAN) are responsible for providing the information from the local providers in a very large area in which these networks could be manned by different service providers. A Regional Network is usually the last area before the date is put onto a core network. These Regional Networks use large portions of data from different networks and then provide the services over leased lines to other communication service providers. Cable Television are broken up into four categories, the first being Broadcast Television. Broadcast Television is provided over radio waves that are distributed from very tall radio towers. The end user would have an antenna connected to their personal television and these antennas would receive the radio waves being broadcasted from these large towers. One large downside would be for Broadcast Television is that the radio waves that are being broadcasted can only reach a certain distance and could be blocked by many obstacles. As technology progressed, the Community Antenna Television got stronger when the end user was able to purchase an amplifier. These amplifiers could boost the radio waves in the signal to reach much farther distances. Network Access Points are installed by local cable providers and can be found near customers locations. This is a terminal that the service provider can hook into and then distribute too many customers within a rather closer proximity. Network Interface Devices are always located at the end users location and will provide the data and connected to existing cables to provide television, internet or land line connections. Telecommunication Services can be discussed many different ways. RBOCS is one way to discuss these services. RBOCS refers to the Regional Bell Operating Company. It is made up of seven different companies which were all one company prior to 1984. These companies include some of the largest telecommunications companies in the United States, including AT&T. Unbundling a certain network came about when the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was passed. This means that Local Exchange Carriers are split into ILEC and CLECs which can both use a local loop of cabling to connect between a local exchange and a consumers home or business. Multiple System Operator (MSO) controls many different cable TV systems. An MFO is basically a telecommunications company which provides multiples services to the consumer like cable television and telephone services. These services are usually transmitted from fiber optic cables to certain location and then distributed to the consumer with coaxial cables. It can also be done with radio frequencies directly headend to the consumers home. Internet Service Provider (ISP) is the company that provides the internet to the end user. The internet can be provided in many different ways. It can be transmitted to the customer wirelessly or through cable or the phone line. Most of these companies can provide both internet and phone over the same cable because they both travel at such different frequencies that it couldn’t interfere with the other. Another service is Triple-Play. Triple-Play is where the service provider can provide multiple services to the customer. It usually includes Telephone Service through a VOIP (voice over IP), Cable Television and the Internet. Cable television can include such features as On-Demand where a customer can access the internet through the television to watch shows streaming through their cable TV. Cloud computing is a software in which it allows several consumers the access to different types of software without having to install that software on every individual computer. The cloud is usually accessed through the internet or software that can be installed on the end users computer. The end user would have a user name and password to be able to access the information stored on one’s cloud. The cloud can hold several pieces of data to be able to be accessed anytime.