Glossary and abbreviations

1G – First generation, now used to describe early analogue mobile-phone networks or technology

2G – Second generation, now used to describe early digital mobile-phone networks or technology

3G – Third generation, used to describe mobile technologies such as W-CDMA, CDMA-1X EV-DO

4G – Fourth generation, used to describe fourth-generation mobile technology or LTE

5G – Fifth generation

ADSL – Asymmetric digital subscriber line, a technique that permits copper cable to carry voice and data traffic simultaneously

Ameritech – American Information Technologies Corp

AMPS – Advanced Mobile Phone Service, the first American cellular telephone standard

Analogue – A system in which signals or information is represented by a continuously variable physical quantity, such as a sound or a voltage

AT&T – American Telephone and Telegraph Company

Block – Radio spectrum is often split into blocks (e.g., A block, B block) for regulatory or commercial purposes; such designation may relate to the frequencies of each block, or may be arbitrarily assigned

Bps – Bits per second

BT – British Telecom

CATV – Community Antenna Television

CCI – Cellular Communications Inc

CDMA – Code Division Multiple Access, a technique that allows multiple transmitters to use the same communication channel simultaneously – individual signals are assigned a specific code to prevent interference with other signals

CDMA 1X EV-DO – Code division multiple access one times radio transmission technology evolution data-optimised; an American 3G mobile-phone standard optimised for data transmission

Cellular radio – A method of arranging radio-telephone equipment in cells to optimise the available radio spectrum

CGE – Compagnie Generale des Eaux

CTNE – Compañía Telefónica Nacional de España

D-AMPS – Digital Advanced Mobile Phone Service, an American 2G mobile-phone technology

DCS – Digital Communication System; short-lived term to describe a GSM-1800 network

DDI – Daini Denden Inc

Digital – A system that converts the analogue signal into a stream of binary digits (0s or 1s) and then organises these in such a way that they can convey complex information

DoCoMo – Do Communications Mobile

DSL – Digital subscriber line, a technique that permits copper cable to carry voice and data traffic simultaneously

DRC – Democratic Republic of the Congo

DTH – direct-to-home; industry jargon for satellite-TV services

EE – Everything Everywhere

Etisalat – Emirates Telecommunications

Exchange – The ‘brain’ of a telephone system, which directs the flow of traffic on the network, connecting customer premises equipment (such as a telephone handset) through a network of local cables (the local loop) to other customers’ devices; exchanges are connected to each other by a ‘trunk’ or long-distance transmission system, while international ‘gateway’ exchanges connect one country’s network with those in other territories

FCC – Federal Communications Commission

Fibre-optics – Ultra-pure glass used to transmit signals from lasers in a telephone or data-transmission network

FTSE – Financial Times Stock Exchange; the FTSE or FTSE-100 is the leading index of stocks traded on the London Stock Exchange

Gbps – Gigabits per second

GEC – General Electric Company

GSM – Groupe Speciale Mobile, later Global System for Mobile

GTE – General Telephone and Electric

IP – Internet protocol; a set of rules for communication over the internet

ISP – Internet service provider

ITT – International Telephone and Telegraph

KDD – Kokusai Denshin Denwa

KPN – Koninklijke KPN (Royal Dutch KPN)

LEO – Low Earth orbit; an orbit around the Earth of an object with an altitude of 2,000 kilometres (1,245 miles) or less

LTE – Long-term evolution, a 4G mobile-phone technology

Matav – Magyar Telekom

Mbps – Megabits per second

MCI – Microwave Communications Inc

Merger – The process by which two companies combine or consolidate; usually used to imply a slightly more benign outcome than that resulting from a takeover

MSI – Mobile Systems International

MTN – Mobile Telephone Networks Holdings/Group

MTS – Mobile TeleSystems

NMT – Nordic Mobile Telephone, 1G mobile-phone standard developed by Ericsson

Non-wireline – A cellular-network operator that had not previously been involved in the telephone business

NTT – Nippon Telegraph and Telephone

NYNEX – New York and New England Exchange Company

Open-source software – Code that the copyright owner allows others to change and distribute free of charge for any purpose

PABX – Private Automatic Branch Exchange; a small automatic telephone exchange owned or leased by a company or individual that interconnects to the main telephone network

PacTel – Pacific Telesis

Pbps – Petabits per second

PCM – Pulse code modulation; a technique for converting analogue signals into a digital signal

PCN – Personal Communications Network, the UK name for a GSM-1800 mobile network

PCS – Personal Communication Service, US name for a 2G mobile communication system

PDC – Personal Digital Cellular; a 2G Japanese mobile-phone standard that was only ever used in Japan

PTT – post, telegraph and telephone – a state-owned entity that operates national post and telecommunication monopolies

SBC – Southwestern Bell

SEC – Securities and Exchange Commission

SFR – Société Francaise de Radiotéléphones

SIM – Subscriber identity module; an electronic device that’s used to define the identity of the user in certain mobile network technologies

SingTel – Singapore Telecom

STC – Standard Telephones and Cables

Sprint – Southern Pacific Railroad Internal Network Telecommunications

TACS – Total Access Communication System

Takeover bid – An attempt to acquire a controlling or complete interest in a company

Tbps – Terabits per second

TDC – Tele Danmark A/S

TD-SCDMA – time division synchronous code division multiple access; a Chinese non-standard 3G standard

TDMA – time division multiple access; a technique that allows multiple transmitters to use the same communication channel simultaneously – individual signals are assigned different time slots to prevent interference with other signals

Telmex – Teléfonos de Mexico

TIW – Telesystems International Wireless

TMN – Telecomunicações Móveis Nacionais

UAE – United Arab Emirates

UK – United Kingdom

UMTS – Universal Mobile Telephone Service; the over-optimistic name given to some 3G mobile-phone standards

USA – United States of America

VDSL – Very-high-speed digital subscriber line; a variant of DSL with the highest data transmission speed

VoIP – Voice over Internet Protocol, a technique for digitising a voice signal and transmitting it over the internet (e.g., Skype and WhatsApp)

Wireline – A company that operates a fixed, wire-based telephone network (term borrowed from the oil industry)