Aussie Phone Brokers - Telecommunications Glossary
'B' Glossary Terms
- B2B - Business to Business
- Commercial term meaning Business-to-Business commerce, as distinct from Business-to-Consumer or Retail Business.
- Backbone Network
- The electronic 'spine' of a telecommunications network which joins slower and dispersed network elements. A common telecommunications backbone in Australia carries network traffic between Melbourne and Sydney and is a private, managed network. Telstra, Optus and AAPT all have such networks.
- BAN - Billing Account Number
- The account number attached to a service(s). Most often a customer will only have a single BAN from a service provider. However, customers may elect to have several BANs; to designate between sites, for example.
- Bandwidth
- The amount of data that can be sent over a network connection in a fixed period of time. Bandwidth is measured in units of bits per second (bps), kilobits per second (Kbps), or megabits per second (Mbps). For example: Dial-up connections (considered 'slow') often transmit at 28 or 56 Kbps; ADSL connections (considered 'medium-pace') have a range of connection speeds, 512 Kbps is a common speed; ADSL2+ (considered 'fast') has speeds of up to 24 Mbps (that is 24,000 Kbps). Higher bandwidth connections are more suited to carrying video data.
Related: Kbps, Mbps - Base Station
- Radio transceiver that sends and receives mobile phone signals. In the US and Canada, the area covered by such a transceiver is a Cell - hence the term Cell Phones.
A carrier's coverage area is the geographical area covered by multiple Base Stations.
Related: Cell, Coverage Area - Battery Standby Time
- The expected duration for which a battery can last while the handset is in standby mode (eg. switched-on, but not in use).
- Battery Talk Time
- The expected duration for which a battery can last while being used for voice calls.
- Billing Address
- The postal address for a telecommunications services account. The billing address may differ to the physical address of the services.
- Billing Increment
- Blocks of time, usually 1 second or 30 second blocks, which are used by a service provider to calculate the cost of a call.
Example: If a mobile phone plan states that calls are billed per 30 seconds, then calls lasting 3 sec, 14 sec and 30 sec will all be billed the same; as one 30 second billing increment. However, a 31 sec call will be billed as two billing increments.
Example: If a mobile phone deal states that calls are to be billed in 1 second increments, then all calls are billed per second. Typically, billing in 1 sec increments will be approximately 3.5% cheaper than billing in 30 second increments. - 1 Second (or Per Second) Billing Increments
- Call costs are calculated (in part, at least) using the number of seconds, multiplied by the billing rate. Per second billing increment phone plans typically save approximately 3.5% more than a 30 sec billing increment plan.
- 30 Second Billing Increments
- Call costs are calculated (in part, at least) by finding the number of billing increments used (in this case 30 seconds), and multiplying by the billing rate per increment.
For example: 30 second billing increment phone plans will charge the same amount for call durations 6 sec, 14 sec, and 30 sec. They will also charge the same for calls which are 31 sec, 44 sec and 60 seconds. - Blackberry
- The Blackberry is a handheld wireless device providing e-mail, telephone, text messaging and web browsing and other wireless data access. In Australia, Blackberry operates mostly on the GPRS network. However, Blackberry will begin operating at higher speeds as networks are upgraded.
- Block Calls
- Call blocking is a feature which may be requested from a provider. Typically, call blocking may be used to block the connection of nuisance calls.
- Bluetooth
- A radio technology standard created for wireless transmission of signals over short distances between electronic devices. Transfer speeds are up to 720Kb/sec and do not require line-of-sight. Industry standard developed by Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Nokia and Toshiba; with later inputs by 3Com, Lucent Technologies, Microsoft and Motorola. It is named after Harold Bluetooth, who united Scandinavian Europe in the 10th century, ending many years of war.
- bps - Bits per second
- A measure of data transmission speed. bps is literally the 'bits per second' which may be transferred over a network connection. For example: Dial-up connections (considered 'slow') often transmit at 28 or 56 Kbps; ADSL connections (considered 'medium-pace') have a range of connection speeds, 512 Kbps is a common speed; ADSL2+ (considered 'fast') has speeds of up to 24 Mbps (that is 24,000 Kbps). Higher bandwidth connections are more suited to carrying video data.
Bits is a combination of the words 'binary' and 'digit.' Each bit is assigned a digital 1 or a 0, and eight bits make up a byte.
Related: Kbps, Mbps, ADSL, ADSL2+ - BRI - Basic Rate Interface
- Also called ISDN2, this is a conversion of a single copper pair into two 64 Kbps 'B' channels which may be used for voice or data. There is an additional 16Kbps 'D' data signal channel created also.
ISDN2 is often used in regional areas for Internet connections; either as the landline component of a satellite broadband connection or as a dial-up Internet connection.
Related: ISDN, Satellite Internet, Dial-Up Internet - Broadband
- From the term "broad bandwidth" and is used to describe a network connection capable of handling frequencies greater than those required for high-grade voice communications. In Australia, this means: an external network connection faster than dial-up. ADSL Internet, cable Internet, Wireless Internet and some satellite Internet connections are all Broadband connections.
Related: ADSL Internet, ADSL2+ Internet, Cable Internet, Wireless Internet, Dial-Up Internet - Broadband Availability
- The testing of a site for determining the availability of broadband services. There are several online resources to check broadband availability. Try www.whirlpool.net.au (external link) for xDSL, ADSL2+ and Cable connections. Of course, every location has broadband availability through satellite broadband connections.
- Broadband Connect
- Program provides registered ISPs (Internet Service Providers) with incentive payments to supply higher bandwidth services in regional, rural and remote areas of Australia at prices comparable to those available in metropolitan areas. Replacement scheme for the ended HiBIS (ended on 31 December 2005) and was begun on 1 January 2006.
- Browser
- A software application which facilitates interaction with the World Wide Web. A browser uses HTTP to interact with Web servers online. Also called a Web Browser.
- Bundling
- Combining any or all telecommunication services from a single provider. Bundled offers usually confer a discount on one or more services.
These pages contains commonly used terms and their definitions for the Australian telecommunications industry. The terms found here refer to the ICT industry (Information and Communication Technology), IT industry (Information Technology) and the general Telecommunications Industry - including Mobile Telecommunications, Fixed Line services and IP telecommunications.
Please use the index below:
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