Term
Definition
CO
Central Office.
Current Loop
A two wire transmit/receive interface.
DSL
Digital Subscriber Line. A technology for bringing high-bandwidth information to homes and small businesses over ordinary copper telephone lines. A DSL line can carry both data and voice signals, with the data part of the line remaining continuously connected. Currently competes with the cable modem in bringing broadband services to homes and small businesses.
POTS
Plain Old Telephone Service. Sometimes used in discussions of new telephone technologies in which the question of whether and how existing voice transmission for ordinary telephone communication can be accommodated. For example, DSL and ISDN provide part of their channels for POTS, while using most of their bandwidth for digital data transmission.
PSTN
Public Switched Telephone Network.
RJ-45
Modular telecommunications connector.