2G Second generation of mobile telephony systems. Uses digital transmission to support voice, low-speed data communications, and short messaging services.
2.5G In mobile telephony, 2.5G protocols extend 2G systems to provide additional features such as packet-switched connections (GPRS) and higher-speed data communications.
3G Third generation of mobile systems. Provides high-speed data transmission and supports multimedia applications such as full-motion video, video-conferencing and internet access, alongside conventional voice services.
3.5G 3.5G refers to evolutionary upgrades to 3G services starting in 2005-2006 that provide significantly enhanced performance. High Speed Downlink Packet Access is expected to become the most popular 3.5G technology (see HSDPA).
3G LTE See LTE.
802.11 see Wireless LANs (WiFi).
Access network Electronic Communications Network which connects end-users to a service provider; running from the end-user’s premise to a Local Access Node and supporting the provision of access based services. It is sometimes referred to as the local loop or last mile.
ADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. A digital technology that allows the use of a standard telephone line to provide high-speed data communications. Allows higher speeds in one direction (towards the customer) than the other.
AM Amplitude Modulation. Type of modulation produced by varying the strength of a radio signal. This type of modulation is used by broadcasters in three frequency bands: medium frequency (MF, also known as medium wave: MW); low frequency (LF, also known as long wave: LW), and high frequency (HF, also known as short wave: SW). The term AM is often used to refer to the medium frequency band (see MF below).
BERR Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
Bit-rates The rate at which digital information is carried within a specified communication channel.
Broadband A service or connection generally defined as being ‘always on’ and providing a bandwidth greater than narrowband.
Communications Act Communications Act 2003, which came into force in July 2003.
Contention ratio An indication of the number of customers who share the capacity available in an ISP’s broadband network. Figures of 50:1 for residential broadband connections and 20:1 for business are typical).
DAB Digital Audio Broadcasting. A set of internationally accepted standards for the technology by which terrestrial Digital Radio multiplex services are broadcast in the UK.
DCMS Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Digital switchover The process of switching over the current analogue television broadcasting system to digital, as well as ensuring that people have adapted or upgraded their televisions and recording equipment to receive digital TV.
Directgov The official UK Government website for citizens, providing access to a wide range of public services.
DIUS Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.
DMB Digital Mobile Broadcasting. A variant of the DAB digital radio standard for mobile TV services, and an alternative to DVB-H (see DVB, below).
Dongle A physical device, attached to a PC’s USB port, which adds hardware capabilities.
DRM A family of technologies and protocols used to limit duplication of digital media.
DSL Digital Subscriber Line. A family of technologies generally referred to as DSL, or xDSL, capable of transforming ordinary phone lines (also known as ‘twisted copper pairs’) into high speed digital lines, capable of supporting advanced services such as fast Internet access and video-on-demand. ADSL, HDSL (high data rate digital subscriber line) and VDSL (very high data rate digital subscriber line) are all variants of xDSL).
DTT Digital Terrestrial Television, currently most commonly delivered through the Freeview service.
DVB Digital Video Broadcasting. A set of internationally accepted open standards for digital broadcasting, including standards for distribution by satellite, cable, radio and handheld devices (the latter known as DVB-H).
DVD Digital Versatile Disc. A high capacity CD-size disc for carrying audio-visual content. Initially available read-only, but recordable formats are now available.
DVR Digital Video Recorder (also known as Personal Video Recorder and Digital Television Recorder). A digital TV set-top box including a hard disk drive which allows the user to record, pause and rewind live TV.
EPG Electronic Programme Guide. A programme schedule, typically broadcast alongside digital television or radio services, to provide information on the content and scheduling of current and future programmes.
Fibre-to-the-cabinet Access network consisting of optical fibre extending from the access node to the street cabinet. The street cabinet is usually located only a few hundred metres from the subscriber premises. The remaining segment of the access network from the cabinet to the customer is usually a copper pair but could use another technology, such as wireless.
Fibre-to-the-home A form of fibre optic communication delivery in which the optical signal reaches the end user’s living or office space.
Fibre-to-the-building A form of fibre-optic communication delivery in which an optical fibre is run directly onto the customers’ premises.
FM Frequency Modulation. Type of modulation produced by varying the frequency of a radio carrier in response to the signal to be transmitted. This is the type of modulation used by broadcasters in part of the VHF (Very High Frequency) band, known as VHF Band 2.
Format The type of programme service broadcast by radio stations. Also, the part of a radio station’s licence which describes the programme service.
Free-to-air Broadcast content that people can watch or listen to without having to pay a subscription.
GDP Gross Domestic Product.
GPRS General Packet Radio Service, a packet data service provided over so-called 2.5G mobile networks.
GPS The GPS (Global Positioning System) is a ‘constellation’ of 24 well-spaced satellites that orbit the Earth and make it possible for people with ground receivers to pinpoint their geographic location.
GSM Global Standard for Mobile Telephony, the standard used for 2G mobile systems.
HDTV High-Definition Television. A technology that provides viewers with better quality, high-resolution pictures.
Headline connection speed The theoretical maximum data speed that can be achieved by a given broadband. A number of factors, such as the quality and length of the physical line from the exchange to the customer, mean that a given customer may not experience this headline speed in practice.
HSPA Jointly, downlink and uplink mobile broadband technologies are referred to as HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) services.
International roaming A service offered by mobile operators that allows customers to use their phone abroad. The home operator has agreements with foreign operators that allows customers to make and receive calls, send and pick up text messages, and use some of the other mobile services (such as access to voicemail or topping-up credit on pre-pay phones). The exact services available and the charges for their use vary between operators.
Internet A global network of networks, using a common set of standards (e.g. the Internet Protocol), accessed by users with a computer via a service provider.
Internet-enabled mobile phone A mobile phone which allows its user to access the internet via in-built access technology such as GPRS or WCDMA.
IP (Internet Protocol) The packet data protocol used for routing and carriage of messages across the Internet and similar networks.
IPTV Internet Protocol Television. The term used for television and/or video signals that are delivered to subscribers or viewers using Internet Protocol (IP), the technology that is also used to access the Internet. Typically used in the context of streamed linear and on-demand content, but also sometimes for downloaded video clips.
ISDN Integrated Services Digital Networks. A standard developed to cover a range of voice, data, and image services intended to provide end-to-end, simultaneous handling of voice and data on a single link and network.
ISP Internet Service Provider. A company that provides access to the internet.
KTNs (Knowledge Transfer Networks) Groups bringing together communities of shared interest around emerging technologies, established and funded by Government, industry and academia, to facilitate acquisition and sharing of knowledge.
LAN (Local area network) A network for communication between computers covering a local area, like a home or an office.
Leased Line A transmission facility which is leased by an end user from a public carrier, and which is dedicated to that user’s traffic.
LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) LLU is the process where the incumbent operators (in the UK it is BT and Kingston Communications) make their local network (the lines that run from customers premises to the telephone exchange) available to other communications providers. The process requires the competitor to deploy its own equipment in the incumbent’s local exchange and to establish a backhaul connection between this equipment and its core network.
Local Loop The access network connection between the customer’s premises and the local PSTN exchange, usually a loop comprised of two copper wires.
LTE (Long Term Evolution). Part of the development of 4G mobile systems that started with 2G and 3G networks.
MMS Multimedia Messaging Service. The next generation of mobile messaging services, adding photos, pictures and audio to text messages.
Mobile Broadband Various types of wireless high-speed internet access through a portable modem, telephone or other device.
MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3) A standard technology and format for compressing a sound sequence into a very small file (about one-twelfth the size of the original file) while preserving the original level of sound quality when it is played.
MP3 Player A device that is able to store and play back MP3 files.
MPEG Moving Picture Experts Group. A set of international standards for compression and transmission of digital audio-visual content. Most digital television services in the UK use MPEG2, but MPEG4 offers greater efficiency and is likely to be used for new services including TV over DSL and High-Definition TV.
Multichannel In the UK, this refers to the provision or receipt of television services other than the main five channels (BBC ONE & TWO, ITV1, Channel 4/S4C, Five) plus local analogue services. ‘Multichannel homes’ comprise all those with digital terrestrial TV, satellite TV, digital cable or analogue cable, or TV over broadband. Also used as a noun to refer to a channel only available on digital platforms (or analogue cable).
Multiplex A device that sends multiple signals or streams of information on a carrier at the same time in the form of a single, complex signal. The separate signals are then recovered at the receiving end.
MVNO An organisation which provides mobile telephony services to its customers, but does not have allocation of spectrum or its own wireless network.
MW See AM above.
Narrowband A service or connection providing data speeds up to 128kbit/s, such as via an analogue telephone line, or via ISD.
Next generation core networks (NGN) Internet Protocol based core networks which can support a variety of existing and new services, typically replacing multiple, single service legacy networks.
Next generation access networks (NGA) Broadband access networks that connect the end-user to the core network capable of with a bandwidth quantity and quality significantly in excess of current levels (a benchmark of 20 Mbit/s or more is often used).
Ofcom Office of Communications, the converged regulator established by the Communications Act 2003.
Oftel Office of Telecommunications, whose functions transferred to Ofcom on 29th December 2003.
PACT Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television, the UK trade association for independent film, television, animation and interactive media companies.
Paired Spectrum Radio spectrum allocated in pairs, ie with one channel at a lower frequency and another at a higher frequency, such that one channel is received by the mobile phone and the other is used to transmit. Paired spectrum is used in certain mobile technical standards.
Pay-per-view A service offering single viewings of a specific film, programme or event, provided to consumers for a one-off fee.
Peak time The period during which: a radio station broadcasts its breakfast show and, on weekdays only, also its afternoon drive-time show; a television station broadcasts its early and mid-evening schedule, typically used by Ofcom to refer to the period between 18:00 and 22:30 each day (including weekends).
Peer-to-peer distribution The process of directly transferring information, services or products between users or devices that operate on the same hierarchical level.
PSB Public Service Broadcasting, or Public Service Broadcaster. The Communications Act in the UK defines the PSBs to include the BBC, ITV1, Channel 4, Five and S4C.
PVR See DVR.
Service bundling (or multi-play) A marketing term describing the packaging together of different communications services by organisations that traditionally only offered one or two of those services.
Service provider A provider of electronic communications services to third parties whether over its own network or otherwise.
SIM-only a monthly mobile contract which is sold without a handset.
Share (radio) Proportion of total listener hours, expressed as a percentage, attributable to one station within that station’s Total Survey Area.
Share (TV) Proportion of total TV viewing to a particular channel over a specified time, expressed as a percentage of total hours of viewing.
Simulcasting The broadcasting of a television or radio programme service on more than one transmission technology (e.g. FM and MW, DAB and FM, analogue and digital terrestrial television, digital terrestrial and satellite).
SME Small to Medium sized Enterprise. A company with fewer than 250 employees.
Spectrum Radio spectrum, ie the range of electronic frequencies suitable for communication, different frequencies of which are used in broadcasting, mobile communications, satellite communications and certain other activities, either under licensed use or where licence exemptions are permitted.
Streaming content Audio or video files sent in compressed form over the internet and consumed by the user as they arrive. Streaming is different to downloading, where content is saved on the user’s hard disk before the user accesses it.
Telecommunications, or ‘Telecoms’ Conveyance over distance of speech, music and other sounds, visual images or signals by electric, magnetic or electro-magnetic means.
Transmitter A device which amplifies an electrical signal at a frequency to be converted, by means of an aerial, into an electromagnetic wave (or radio wave). The term is commonly used to include other, attached devices, which impose a more simple signal onto the frequency, which is then sent as a radio wave. The term is sometimes also used to include the cable and aerial system referred to above, and indeed the whole electrical, electronic and physical system at the site of the transmitter.
TV over DSL/TV over Broadband A technology that allows viewers to access TV content – either in a linear programme schedule, or on-demand – using Internet Protocol via broadband services, either on a PC or (via a set-top box) on a TV set.
TVWF Television Without Frontiers. A range of provisions designed to achieve coordination of the legal, regulatory and administrative frameworks of European Union member states with respect to television broadcasting, adopted by the European Council in 1989 and amended in 1997.
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System. The 3G mobile technologies most commonly used in the UK and Europe.
Usage caps Monthly limits on the amount of data which broadband users can download, imposed by some ISPs.
UWB Ultra-wideband A technology developed to transfer large amounts of data wirelessly over short distances, typically less than ten metres.
VHF Very High Frequency The part of the spectrum between 30 MHz and 300 MHz. FM radio is broadcast on part of this band (87.6 MHz to 107.9 MHz) and DAB digital radio is broadcast on another (Band III: 217.5 MHz to 230 MHz in the UK, and over a wider range, but shared with TV services, elsewhere in Europe).
VoD Video on Demand A service or technology that enables TV viewers to watch programmes or films whenever they choose to, not restricted by a linear schedule. Also Near Video on Demand (NVoD), a service based on a linear schedule that is regularly repeated on multiple channels, usually at 15-minute intervals, so that viewers are never more than 15 minutes away from the start of the next transmission.
VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol. A technology that allows users to send calls using Internet Protocol, using either the public Internet or private IP networks.
Web 2.0 A perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services – such as social-networking sites and wikis, which facilitate collaboration and sharing between users.
WiFi hotspot A public location which provides access to the internet using WiFi technology.
WiMAX A wireless MAN (metropolitan area network) technology, based on the 802.16 standard. Available for both fixed and mobile data applications.
Source: Ofcom
