Minnesota Telecom Alliance

Industry Glossary

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Access	The ability of one company to connect to or use another company's communications services or facilities. The 1996 Telecommunications Act Mandates that there be no discrimination between or against service providers - that the operating environment must be "neutrally competitive."
Access Charge	The charges long distance providers pay to local telephone service providers for use of the local network to complete long distance calls.
Access Line	The circuit between a telephone subscriber and the local switching center.
Advanced Television Services	Television services provided using digital technology. See also HDTV and SDTV
Affiliate	A company that (directly or indirectly) owns or controls at least 10% of another company.
Analog	In telecommunications, the generation of a constant electrical signal that is comparable ("analogous") to the original voice, data or video input. In short, transmissions that are not digital (see below). For a comparison of analog and optic transmission capabilities, see "speed".
ARPANET	The precursor to the Internet, ARPANET was a large Wide Area Network established in 1969 by the United States Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) linking many universities and research centers.
AT&T Consent Decree	The order entered August 24, 1982, in the antitrust action styled United States v. Western Electric resulting in AT&T's separation from its regional operating companies, known as the Baby Bells.

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