Technical glossary

4G

Next generation of mobile phone standards and technology.

ADSL

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line is a form of DSL, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper lines than a conventional voice band modem can provide.

DSL

Digital Subscriber Line.Generic name covering several different technologies for data transmission over fixed phone lines.

Femtocell

Originally known as an Access Point Base Station is a small cellular base station, typically designed for use in residential or small business environments.

GPRS

General Packet Radio Service is a mobile data service available to users of GSM and mobile phones.

GPS

Global Positioning System.

GSM

Global System of Mobile Communications or Groupe Spécial Mobile 2nd-generation mobile telephony system. Digital, as opposed to analog NMT.

HDTV

High-definition television is a digital television broadcasting system with greater resolution than traditional television systems.

HSDPA

High-Speed Downlink Packet Access is a 3G mobile telephony communications protocol in the HSPA family, which allows networks based on UMTS to have higher data transfer speeds and capacity. Also called turbo 3G.

HSPA

High-Speed Packet Access is a collection of mobile telephony protocols that extend and improve the performance of existing UMTS protocols.

ICT

Information and communications technology.

IMS

IP Multimedia Subsystem is an architectural framework for delivering internet protocol multimedia services.

IP

Internet Protocol is a data-oriented protocol used for communicating data across a packet-switched internet work. IP provides the service of communicable unique global addressing amongst computers.

IPTV

Internet Protocol Television is a system where a digital television service is delivered by using Internet Protocol over a network infrastructure, which may include delivery by a broadband connection. A general definition of IPTV is television content that, instead of being delivered through traditional broadcast and cable formats, is received by the viewer through the technologies used for computer networks.

LAN

Local Area Network. Local network of computers, often in the same room or building.

LTE

Long Term Evolution (also called 4G) is the name given to a project within the Third Generation Partnership Project to improve the UMTS mobile phone standard to cope with future requirements. Goals include improving efficiency, lowering costs, improving services, making use of new spectrum opportunities, and better integration with other open standards. The LTE project is not a standard, but it will result in the new evolved release 8 of the UMTS standard, including mostly or wholly extensions and modifications of the UMTS system.

Mbps

Megabit per second is a unit of data transfer rate equal to 1,000,000 bits per second.

MMS

Multimedia Messaging Service A service which makes it possible to send text, -images and audio messages between mobile phones or -between online computers and a mobile telephone.

Mobile 2.0

Refers to a perceived next generation of mobile internet services.

Mobile Broadband

Describe various types of wireless high-speed internet access through a portable modem, telephone or other device.

MNP

Mobile Number Portability enables mobile telephone users to retain their mobile telephone numbers when changing from one mobile network operator to another.

MVNO

Mobile Virtual Network Operator.MVNOs have greater network resources than service providers with which to offer their own telecom services to subscribers. However, they do not have radio access network capacity, which must be purchased from a network operator.

Netbook

A type of laptop designed for wireless communication and access to the internet. The term is a combination of the words internet and notebook.

NFC

Near Field Communication is a short-range high frequency wireless communication technology which enables the exchange of data between devices over about a 10 centimeter distance.

P2P

Peer-to-peer computer network uses diverse connectivity between participants in a network and the cumulative bandwidth of network participants rather than conventional centralized resources where a relatively low number of servers provide the core value to a service or application.

PDA

Personal Digital Assistant is a handheld computer, also known as pocket computer or palmtop computer.

PSTN

All standard analogue lines, whether or not they are overlaid or augmented by other technologies (such as xDSL). Includes circuit-switched cable telephony lines, but excludes direct access VoIP.

RSS

A family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works - such as blog entries, news headlines, audio and video – in a standardized format.

SIM

Subscriber Identity Module is part of a removable smart card ICC (Integrated Circuit Card), also known as a SIM Card, for mobile cellular telephony devices such as mobile phones and computers.

Smartphone

A mobile phone offering advanced capabilities beyond a typical mobile phone, often with PC functionality. There is no industry standard definition of a smart phone.

SMS

Short Message Service. Enables the transmission of short text messages between mobile phones or between a computer which is connected to the Internet and a mobile phone.

SOHO

Small Office Home Office, a market segment.

Time-shift TV

The recording and storage of a TV program to be viewed at a time more convenient to the user.

Triple Play

A marketing term for the provisioning of the two broadband services, high-speed internet access and television, and one narrowband service, telephone over a single broadband connection.

UICC

Universal Integrated Circuit Card is the smart card used in mobile terminals in GSM and UMTS networks. The UICC ensures the integrity and security of all kinds of personal data, and it typically holds a few hundred kilobytes.

UMA

Unlicensed Mobile Access is the commercial name of the 3GPP Generic Access Network or GNA standard. GAN is a telecommunication system that extends mobile voice, data and IP multimedia applications over IP access networks.

UMTS (3G)

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System. A technology for 3rd-generation mobile -telephony designed to handle text, images, and video. UMTS has greater capacity than GSM.

VDSL2

Very High Speed Digital Subscriber Line 2 is the newest and most advanced standard of DSL broadband wireline communications. Designed to support the wide deployment of triple play services such as voice, video, data, HDTV and interactive gaming.

VoD

Video-on-Demand systems allow users to select and watch to video content on demand.

VOIP

Voice Over Internet Protocol.Telephony which uses Internet Protocol.

VPN

Virtual Private Network. A service linking a company’s local and telephony networks with the computers and phones of employees who work remotely, forming a telecom or data communications network. Users see this as one single business network.

WAN

Wide Area Network. A network of computers in different geographical locations. Often consists of several LANs linked together.

WAP

Wireless Application Protocol. An industrial standard for Internet-based data communications over mobile networks. Developed by the WAP Forum, consisting of big corporations such as Ericsson, IBM, Motorola and Nokia.

Web 2.0

Refers to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing between users.

WiMAX

Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access is a telecommunications technology aimed at providing wireless data over long distances in a variety of ways, from point-to-point links to full mobile cellular type access.

WLAN

Wireless LAN is a wireless local area network, which is the linking of two or more computers without using wires.

WLL

Wireless Local Loop. Wireless broadband access via radio networks.