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The Wireless Glossary
We know the terms used within the wireless industry to refer to applications, technologies and even billing can at times be confusing. To help you better understand this ever changing and acronym-loving industry, we have compiled a comprehensive list of industry terms with easy to understand definitions.
A
A-Band carrier: In early 1981, the FCC announced that it would approve two licenses in each market a non-wireline company (which became known as the "A" side carrier), and a wireline company (the "B" side carrier).
A/B Switch: A feature found on new cellular telephones permitting the user to select either the "A" (non-wireline) carrier or the ‘B" (wireline) carrier when roaming away from home.
Access fee: A special fee that local phone companies are allowed to charge customers for the right to connect with the local phone network. The fee is paid by wireless subscribers, as is a federal three percent telephone excise tax.
Advanced Intelligent Networks: Systems that allow a wireless user to make and receive phone calls while roaming in areas outside the user’s "home" network. These networks rely on computers and sophisticated switching techniques.
Air Time: Actual time spent talking on the wireless telephone. Most carriers bill customers based on how many minutes of air time they use each month. The more minutes of time spent talking on the phone, the higher the bill.
Affiliate: Companies that assist larger carriers with building out a nationwide network; the affiliate may use the primary carrier's brand name, network operations, customer service or other facilities.
Air interface: The standard operating system of a wireless network; technologies include AMPS, TDMA, CDMA and GSM.
Alphanumeric: A message or other type of readout containing both letters ("alphas") and numbers ("numerics"). In cellular, "alphanumeric memory dial" is a special type of dial-from-memory option that displays both the name of the individual and that individual’s phone number on the wireless phone handset.. The name can also be recalled by using the letters on the phone keypad. By contrast, standard memory dial recalls numbers from number-only locations.
AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Service): The term used by AT&T’s Bell Laboratories (prior to the break-up of the Bell System in 1984) to refer to its cellular technology. The AMPS Standard has been the foundation for the industry in the United States, although it has been modified in recent years. "AMPS-compatible" means equipment designed to work with most cellular telephones.
Analog: The traditional method of modulating radio signals so that they can carry information. AM amplitude modulation) and FM (frequency modulation) are the two most common methods of analog modulation. Though most U.S. cellular systems today carry phone conversations using analog, many now offer digital transmission.
ANSI (American National Standards Institute): A U.S. standards group.
Antenna: A device for transmitting and/or receiving signals. The size and shape of antennas are determined, in large part, by the frequency of the signal they are receiving.
APCO (Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International): Trade group headquartered in South Daytona, Fla., representing law enforcement, fire, emergency services and other public-safety agency dispatchers and communications employees.
ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode): A high-speed, high-bandwidth transmission technology.
Authentication: A fraud prevention technology that takes a number of values--including a 26-character handset identifier or A-Key, not sent over the air--to create a shared secret value used to verify a user's authenticity.
B
B-Band carrier: In early 1981, the FCC announced that it would approve two licenses in each market—a non-wireline company (which became known as the "A" side carrier), and a wireline company (the "B" side carrier).
Bandwidth: A relative range of frequencies that can carry a signal without distortion on a transmission medium. Sometimes
referred to as a "pipe."
Base Station: The central radio transmitter/receiver that maintains communications with mobile radiotelephone sets within a give range (typically a cell site).
Bent pipe technology: Satellite technology to transmit calls from one point on Earth to a satellite and back down to another point.
Big LEO: Low-earth orbit satellite system that will offer voice and data services; e.g., Iridium, Globalstar.
Bluetooth: The code name for a new wireless technology being developed by Ericsson Inc., Intel Corp., Nokia Corp., Toshiba and IBM. The technology enables data connections between electronic devices such as desktop computers, wireless phones, electronic organizers and printers in the 2.4 GHz range. Bluetooth depends on mobile devices equipped with a chip for sending and receiving information. The founding members listed above have been joined in development by 700+ members including Compaq, Dell, Motorola, Qualcomm, BMW and Casio.
Broadband: Using a wide-bandwidth channel for voice, data and/or video services.
Broadband PCS: Synonymous with personal communications services created in the A- through F-Block auctions and used for voice and data.
BTA (Basic Trading Area): A service area designed by Rand McNally and adopted by the FCC to promote the rapid deployment and ubiquitous coverage of Personal Communications Services (PCS) and a variety of other services and providers. BTAs are usually composed of several contiguous counties. There are 493 BTAs in the United States.
Bundling: Grouping various telecommunications services--wireline and/or wireless--as a package to increase the appeal to potential customers and reduce advertising, marketing and other expenses associated with delivering multiple services. For example, a bundled package could include long distance, cellular, Internet and paging services.
C
CALEA (Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act): A 1994 law granting law enforcement agencies the ability to wiretap new digital networks and requiring wireless and wireline carriers to enable eavesdropping equipment use in digital networks. (See Issues Section)
Calling party pays: This service bills the originator of a call to a wireless device rather than the receiver and is more common in other countries than in the United States. However, many U.S. carriers are pushing for calling party pays, since it would probably increase minutes of use.
CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access):A spread spectrum approach to digital transmission. With CDMA, each conversation is digitized and then tagged with a code. The mobile phone is then instructed to decipher only a particular code to pluck the right conversation off the air. The process can be compared in some ways to an English-speaking person picking out in a crowded room of French speakers the only other person who is speaking English.. (See Technology Section)
CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data): An enhanced system overlay for transmitting and receiving data over cellular networks. Technology that allows data files to be broken into a number of "packets" and sent along idle channels of existing cellular voice networks.
Cell: The basic geographic unit of a cellular system. Also, the basis for the generic industry term "cellular." A city or county is divided into smaller "cells," each of which is equipped with a low-powered radio transmitter/receiver. The cells can vary in size depending upon terrain, capacity demands, etc. By controlling the transmission power, the radio frequencies assigned to one cell can be limited to the boundaries of that cell. When a wireless phone moves from one cell toward another, a computer at the Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO) monitors the movement and at the proper time, transfers or hands off the phone call to the new cell and another radio frequency. The handoff is performed so quickly that it’s not noticeable to the callers.
Cell site: The location where the wireless antenna and network communications equipment is placed.
Cell Splitting: A means of increasing the capacity of a cellular system by subdividing or splitting cells into two or more smaller cells.
Cellemetry: Brand name for Cellemetry LLC's telemetry service, which uses the cellular network to carry data messaging used for remote services such as utility meter reading, vending machine status and vehicle or trailer tracking.
Channel: A path along which a communications signal is transmitted.
Churn: A measure of the number of subscribers who leave or switch to another carrier's service.
ClassLink: A program of the CTIA Foundation providing wireless phones to schools for teacher use and student Internet access.
CLEC (Competitive Local Exchange Carrier): A new entrant providing local wireline phone service.
Cloning: A wireless phone programmed with stolen or duplicated electronic serial and mobile identification numbers. At the urging of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, President Clinton signed into law in April of 1998 the Wireless Telephone Protection Act (PL 105-172). The legislation amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit knowingly using, producing, trafficking in, having control or custody of, or possessing hardware or software knowing that it has been configured to insert or modify telecommunication identifying information associated with or contained in a telecommunications instrument so that such instrument may be used to obtain telecommunications service without authorization.
CMRS (Commercial Mobile Radio Service): An FCC designation for any carrier or licensee whose wireless network is connected to the public switched telephone network and/or is operated for profit.
Collocation: Placement of multiple antennas at a common physical site to reduce environmental impact and real estate costs and speed zoning approvals and net work deployment. Collocation can be affected by competitive and interference factors. Some companies act as brokers, arranging for sites and coordinating several carriers' antennas at a single site.
Cost Recovery: Reimbursement to CMRS providers of both recurring and nonrecurring costs associated with any services, operation, administration or maintenance of wireless E911 service. Costs include, but are not limited to, the costs of design, development, upgrades, equipment, software and other expenses associated with the implementation of wireless E911 service.
CPE (Consumer Premise Equipment): Telephones, PBXs and other communications devices located in the home or office.
CPNI (Customer Proprietary Network Information): The carrier's data about a specific customer's service and usage. The FCC restricts CPNI use in marketing, banning win-back efforts specifically aimed at high-usage customers who have quit a network. (See Issues Section)
D
Dual band: Describes a handset that works on 800 MHz cellular and 1900 MHz PCS frequencies.
Dual mode: Describes a handset that works on both analog and digital networks.
E
Eighth floor: The eighth floor of the FCC headquarters at 445 12th Street S.W., Washington, D.C., where the commissioners' offices are located. Commonly used to refer collectively to the commissioners.
Electromagnetic Compatibility: The ability of equipment or systems to be used in their intended environment within designed efficiency levels without causing or receiving degradation due to unintentional electromagnetic interference. Proper shielding of devices reduces interference.
Encryption: The process of "scrambling" a message such as a digital phone signal to prevent it from being read by unauthorized parties.
ESMR (enhanced specialized mobile radio): Digital SMR networks, usually referring to Nextel Communications Inc., which provide dispatch, voice, messaging and data services.
ESN (electronic serial number): The unique identification number embedded in a wireless phone by the manufacturer. Each time a call is placed, the ESN is automatically transmitted to the base station so the wireless carrier's mobile switching office can check the call's validity. The ESN cannot be altered in the field. The ESN differs from the mobile identification number, which is the wireless carrier's identifier for a phone in the network. MINs and ESNs can be electronically checked to help prevent fraud.
Ex parte: Statements, meetings or filings that are made outside of an official comment-and-replay period. They must be reported and a summary of them made available in the public record.
F
FCC: Federal Communications Commission. The government agency responsible for regulating telecommunications in the United States.
FNPRM (further notice of proposed rulemaking): A document issued by the FCC to spur additional comment on a future commission action.
Frequency: A measure of the energy, as one or more waves per second, in an electrical or lightwave information signal. A signal’s frequency is stated in either cycles-per-second or Hertz (Hz).
Frequency reuse: The ability of specific channels assigned to a single cell to be used again in another cell, when there is enough distance between the two cells to prevent co-channel interference from affecting service quality. The technique enables a cellular system to increase capacity with a limited number of channels.
FWA (fixed wireless access): Also known as wireless local loop.
G
GHZ: gigaHertz. Billions of Hertz.
GPRS (General Packet Radio Service): A GSM data transmission technique that does not set up a continuous channel from a portable terminal for the transmission and reception of data, but transmits and receives data in packets. It makes very efficient use of available radio spectrum, and users pay only for the volume of data sent and received.
GPS (global positioning system): A series of 24 geosynchronous satellites that continuously transmit their position. Used in personal tracking, navigation and automatic vehicle location technologies.
GSM (global system for mobile communications): A digital cellular or PCS network used throughout the world.
H
Handoff: The process occurring when a wireless network automatically switches a mobile call to an adjacent cell site.
Hands-free: A feature for mobile phones that allows the driver to use their car phone without lifting or holding the handset to their ear. An important safety feature.
Hertz: A measurement of electromagnetic energy, equivalent to one "wave" or cycle per second.
I
iDEN (integrated digital enhanced network): A Motorola Inc. enhanced specialized mobile radio network technology that combines two-way radio, telephone, text messaging and data transmission into one network.
ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier): The historic local phone service provider in a market, often a former Bell company. Distinct from CLECs, competitive local exchange carriers, new market entrants.
Immunity: Immunity has special meaning in a 911 context. No CMRS or 911 provider, its employees, officers or agents is criminally liable or liable for any damages in a civil action for injuries, death or loss to person or property resulting from any act or omission in connection with the development, adoption, implementation, maintenance, enhancement or operation of E911 service, unless such damage or injury was intentional or the result of gross negligence or willful or wanton conduct.
IMT-2000: The International Telecommunication Union's name for the new third generation global standard for mobile telecommunications.
Interconnection: The connecting of one network with another, e.g. a cellular carrier's wireless network with the local exchange.
Interoperability: The ability of a network to operate with other networks, such as two systems based on different protocols or technologies.
IS (Interim Standard): A designation of the American National Standards Institute--usually followed by a number—that refers to an accepted industry protocol; e.g, IS-95, IS-136, IS-54.
IS-41: The network standard that allows all switches to exchange information about subscribers.
IS-54: The first generation of the digital standard time division multiple access technology.
IS-95: The standard for code division multiple access.
IS-136: The latest generation of the digital standard time division multiple access technology.
IS-661: North American standard for 1.9 GHz wireless spread spectrum radio-frequency access technology developed by Omnipoint Corp. IS-661, for which Omnipoint was awarded a pioneer's preference license for the New York City market, is based on a composite of code division multiple access and time division multiple access technologies. The company says IS-661 reduces infrastructure costs and allows higher data speeds than mainstream GSM or TDMA platforms.
ISDN (integrated services digital network): An advanced, high-capacity wireline technology used for high-speed data transfer.
ITU (International Telecommunication Union): An agency of the United Nations, headquartered in Geneva, that furthers the development of telecommunications services worldwide and oversees global allocation of spectrum for future uses.
K
Ka-Band: Radio spectrum in the 18 GHz to 31 GHz range used by satellite communications systems.
Ku-Band: Radio spectrum in the 10.9 GHz to 17 GHz range used by satellite communications systems.
L
LEC (local exchange carrier): A wireline phone company serving a local area.
LEO (low-earth orbit): A mobile communications satellite between 700 and 2,000 kilometers above the earth.
LMDS (local multipoint distribution service): Located in the 28 GHz and 31 GHz bands, LMDS is a broadband radioservice designed to provide two-way transmission of voice, high-speed data and video (wireless cable TV). FCC rules prohibit incumbent local exchange carriers and cable TV companies from offering in-region LMDS.
LNP (local number portability): The ability of subscribers to switch local or wireless carriers and still retain the same phone number, as they can now with long-distance carriers. Wireless carriers don't have to offer LNP until March 2000 and want the deadline further postponed.
Local calling area: The region across which the call is truly local, involving no toll charges.
LSGAC (Local-State Governmental Advisory Committee): An FCC-established group that is working on an antenna-siting solution. The LSGAC will advise carriers and communities on antenna siting.
M
Message Alert: (also called a "call-in-absence" indicator) A light or other indicator on a wireless phone that notifies a user that a call has come in. A useful feature especially if the wireless subscriber has voice mail.
MIN (mobile identification number): Uniquely identifies a mobile unit within a wireless carrier's network. The MIN often can be dialed from other wireless or wireline networks. The number differs from the electronic serial number, which is the unit number assigned by a phone manufacturer. MINs and ESNs can be electronically checked to help prevent fraud.
MIPS (millions of instructions per second): Used in defining digital signal processing capabilities.
Mobile Satellite Service: Communications transmission service provided by satellites. A single satellite can provide coverage to the whole United States.
Moratoria: Moratoria (the singular form is moratorium) are waiting periods on the issuance of construction permits by local zoning authorities. Moratoria are typically imposed to allow time for localities to develop or refine ordinances dealing with antenna siting issues. However, they have been used by some localities as tools to delay or block the rollout and/or expansion of wireless networks. Such usage has resulted in lawsuits by carriers.
MSA (metropolitan statistical area): An MSA demotes one of the 306 largest urban population markets as designated by the U.S. government. Two wireless operators are licensed in each MSA.
MTA (major trading area): A Personal Communications Services area designed by Rand McNally and adopted by the FCC. MTAs are usually composed of several contiguous basic trading areas. There are 51 MTAs in the United States.
MTSO (mobile telephone switching office): The central computer that connects a wireless phone call to the public telephone network. The MTSO controls the entire system’s operations, including monitoring calls, billing and handoffs.
N
NAM: Number Assignment Module. The NAM is the electronic memory in the wireless phone that stores the telephone number and an electronic serial number.
NAMPS (narrowband advanced mobile phone system): NAMPS combines cellular voice processing with digital signaling, increasing the capacity of AMPS systems and adding functionality.
NANC (North American Numbering Council): The FCC advisory group formerly responsible for administering the North American Numbering Plan that oversees assignment of area codes, central office codes and other numbering issues in the United States, Canada, Bermuda and part of the Caribbean. NANP administration responsibility was transferred to Lockheed Martin.
Narrowband PCS: The next generation of paging networks, including two-way, acknowledgment and "wireless answering machine" paging.
NENA (National Emergency Numbering Association): NENA's mission is to foster the technological advancement, availability and implementation of a universal emergency telephone number system.
NOI (notice of inquiry): Often the predecessor to an FCC rulemaking, the NOI takes public comment on a general topic. For instance, an NOI would ask "Do interconnection rates need regulation?" The subsequent proposed rulemaking, if any, would offer a specific regulatory scheme and again be put to public comment.
NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration): The federal government's spectrum management authority.
Number pooling: Increasingly popular tactic for conserving phone numbers. Numbers are returned by all carriers to a central authority, which puts them in a pool, from which carriers receive numbers in lots of 1,000, not 10,000 as was originally done. It relies on local number portability.
O
Off-peak: The periods of time after the business day has ended during which carriers offer discounted airtime charges.
One-stop shop: Describes the all-in-one store where carriers sell wireless, long-distance, Internet access and any other services they are able to sell in that market.
Overlay area code: A solution to the scarcity of new phone numbers, overlays involve issuance of new 10-digit phone numbers for use alongside an area's existing seven-digit numbers, which have a different area code.
P
Partitioning: Parceling a spectrum license into two or more geographic areas.
PCS (personal communications services): A two-way, 1900 MHz digital voice, messaging and data service designed as the second generation of cellular.
PDA (personal digital assistant): A portable computing device capable of transmitting data. These devices make possible services such as paging, data messaging, electronic mail, computing, facsimile, date book and other information handling capabilities.
PIN (personal identification number): A code used by a mobile telephone number in conjunction with an SIM card to complete a call.
Peak: That part of the business day in which cellular customers can expect to pay full service rates.
Pool consolidation: The restructuring of 20 private land mobile services into two pools--public safety and industrial/business--during the commission's ongoing refarming proceeding.
POPs (persons of population): This term is used to designate the number of potential subscribers in a market.
Pre-emption: A federal agency voiding a local ordinance or state law, asserting that the federal government, not the state or locality, has ultimate jurisdiction on the matter.
Prepaid cellular: A system allowing subscribers to pay in advanced for wireless service. Prepaid is generally used for credit-impaired customers or those who want to adhere to a budget.
PSTN (public switched telephone network): The worldwide voice telephone system, also called the Bell System in the United States.
PSAP (public-safety answering point): The dispatch office that receives 911 calls from the public. A PSAP may be local fire or police department, an ambulance service or a regional office covering all services.
PUC (public utility commission): The general name for the state regulatory body charged with regulating utilities including telecommunications.
Punch list: The list of sophisticated wiretapping function that the FBI wants common carriers to provide under the 1994 digital wiretap law, but which the carriers say is too costly and may exceed the law's scope. The FCC has been asked to decide whether the industry's standard is sufficient. (See Issues Section)
R
Radio-frequency fingerprinting: A process that identifies a cellular phone by the unique "fingerprint" that characterizes its signal transmission. RF fingerprinting is one process used to prevent cloning fraud, since a cloned phone will not have the same fingerprint as the legal phone with the same electronic identification numbers.
Rate center: The geographic area used by local exchange carriers to set rate boundaries for billing and for issuing phone numbers. Wireless industry groups decry the rate center concept as wasteful of phone numbers because the concept is issued over larger areas.
RBOC (regional Bell operating company): The list of such companies includes Bell Atlantic, U S West, Ameritech, Southwestern Bell and BellSouth.
Refarming: An FCC initiative to promote more efficient use of the frequency bands below 512 MHz, allocated to private land mobile radio services.
Repeater: Devices that receive a radio signal, amplify it and re-transmit it in a new direction. Used in wireless networks to extend the range of base station signals, thereby expanding coverage-within limits-more economically than by building additional base stations. Repeaters typically are used for buildings, tunnels or difficult terrain.
Roaming: Traveling outside a carrier's local area.
RSA (rural service area): One of the 428 FCC designated rural markets across the United States.
S
Service Charge: The amount you pay each month to receive wireless service. This amount is fixed, and to paid monthly regardless of how much or how little you use your wireless phone.
Slamming: The unauthorized switching of a customer's phone service to another carrier.
Smart antenna: An antenna system whose technology enables it to focus its beam on a desired signal to reduce interference. A wireless network would employ smart antennas at its base stations in an effort to reduce the number of dropped calls, improve call quality and improve channel capacity.
Smart phone: A class of wireless phones typically used to describe handsets with many features and often a keyboard. What makes the phone "smart" is its ability to handle data, not only voice calls.
SMR (specialized mobile radio): A dispatch radio and interconnect service for businesses. Covers frequencies in the 220 MHz, 800 MHz and 900 MHz bands.
SMS (short messaging service): Electronic messages on a wireless network.
Soft handoff: Procedure in which two base stations-one in the cell site where the phone is located and the other in the cell site to which the conversation is being passed- both hold onto the call until the handoff is completed. The first cell site does not cut off the conversation until it receives information that the second is maintaining the call.
Spectrum allocation: Federal government designation of a range of frequencies for a category of use or uses. For example, the FCC allocated the 1900 MHz band for personal communications services. Allocation, typically accomplished in years-long FCC proceedings, tracks new technology development. However, the FCC can shift existing allocations to accommodate changes in spectrum demand. As an example, some UHF television channels were recently reallocated to public safety.
Spectrum assignment: Federal government authorization for use of specific frequencies or frequency pairs within a given allocation, usually at stated a geographic location(s). Mobile communications authorizations are typically granted to private users, such as oil companies, or to common carriers, such as cellular and paging operators. Spectrum auctions and/or frequency coordination processes, which consider potential interference to existing users, may apply.
Spectrum cap: A limit to the allocated spectrum designated for a specific service.
Spread spectrum: Jamming-resistant and initially devised for military use, this radio transmission technology "spreads" information over greater bandwidth than necessary for interference tolerance and is now a commercial technology.
Strongest signal:
Subscriber fraud: A deception deliberately practiced by an impostor to secure wireless service with intent to avoid payment. This is in contrast to bad debt, which occurs when a known person or company has a payment obligation overdue and the debt cannot be collected.
T
TDMA (time division multiple access): A method of digital wireless communications transmission allowing a large number of users to access (in sequence) a single radio frequency channel without interference by allocating unique time slots to each user within each channel (See Technology Section)
Telecommunications Act of 1996: Legislation designed to spur competition among wireless and wireline carriers. Signed into law by President Clinton Feb. 8, 1996. (See Regulatory Trends)
Telematics: The integration of wireless communications, vehicle monitoring systems and location devices.
Termination charges: Fees that wireless telephone companies pay to complete calls on wireline phone networks or vice versa.
Third-Generation (3G): A new standard that promises to offer increased capacity and high-speed data applications up to 2 megabits. It also will integrate pico-, micro- and macrocellular technology and allow global roaming.
The next generation of wireless technology beyond personal communications services. The World Administrative Radio Conference assigned 230 megahertz of spectrum at 2 GHz for multimedia 3G networks. These networks must be able to transmit wireless data at 144 kilobits per second at mobile user speeds, 384 kbps at pedestrian user speeds and 2 megabits per second in fixed locations. The International Telecommunication Union seeks to coordinate 3G standards through its International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 project. In early July, the ITU received 10 proposals for 3G systems and is
currently holding a series of meetings to evaluate the specifications.
Triangulation: The lengthy process of pinning down a caller's location using radio receivers, a compass and a map.
Tri-mode handset: Phones that work on three frequencies, typically using 1900 MHz, 800 MHz digital or reverting to 800 MHz analog cellular when digital is not available.
Triple band: A network infrastructure or wireless phone designed to operate in three frequency bands.
Trunking: Spectrum-efficient technology that establishes a queue to handle demand for voice or data channels.
U
ULS (Universal Licensing System): The new Wireless Telecommunications Bureau program under which electronic filing of license applications and reports of changes to licenses creates a database that can be accessed remotely for searches. Using ULS, for example, the user can learn all the specialized mobile radio licenses in a given region.
UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System): Europe's approach to standardization for third-generation cellular systems.
Universal service: The government's aim, starting in the 1930s, of providing phone service to all, regardless of distance from the switch or ability to pay. Today, universal service encompasses those aims, plus a subsidy to public schools, libraries and rural health care facilities for telecom services.
V
Voice activation: A feature that allows a subscriber to dial a phone by spoken commands instead of punching the numbers in physically. The feature contributes to convenience as well as safe driving.
Voice recognition: The capability for cellular phones, PCs and other communications devices to be activated or controlled by voice commands.
W
W-CDMA (wideband code division multiple access): The third generation standard offered to the International Telecommunication Union by GSM proponents.
WCS (wireless communications services): Frequencies in the 2.3 GHz band designated for general fixed wireless use.
WIN (wireless intelligent network): The architecture of the wireless switched network that allows carriers to provide enhanced and customized services for mobile telephones.
Wireless: Using the radio-frequency spectrum for transmitting and receiving voice, data and video signals for communications.
Wireless Internet: An RF-based service that provides access Internet e-mail and/or the World Wide Web.
Wireless IP: The packet data protocol standard for sending wireless data over the Internet.
Wireless IT (wireless information technology): The monitoring, manipulating and troubleshooting of computer equipment through a wireless network.
Wireless LAN (local area network): Using radio frequency (RF) technology, wireless LANs or WLANs transmit and receive data over the air, minimizing the need for wired connections. Thus, wireless LANs combine data connectivity with user mobility. WLANs are essentially networks that allow the transmission of data and the ability to share resources, such as printers, without the need to physically connect each node, or computer, with wires. Wireless LANs offer the productivity, convenience, and cost advantages over traditional wired networks.
Wireless PBX: Equipment that allows employees or customers within a building or limited area to use wireless handsets connected to an office's private branch exchange system. WPBX systems, for example, include a wireless handset that is programmed to ring simultaneously with the desk phone.
WLL (wireless local loop): WLL is a system that connects subscribers to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) using wireless technology coupled with line interfaces and other circuitry to complete the "last mile" between the customer premise and the exchange equipment. Wireless systems can often be installed in far less time and at lower cost than traditional wired systems.
X
xDSL: Designation for digital subscriber line technology enabling simultaneous two-way transmission of voice and high-speed data over ordinary copper phone lines.
Y
Y2K (The Year 2000): Often used when describing the upgrade of computer systems that must acknowledge the new millennium for billing customers and for other purposes.
Z
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