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A
Access line
A line for voice, data or video reaching from a telecommunications
company’s central office to a point near or on a customer’s
site.
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Access line equivalent
A term used to indicate the number of equivalent access
lines that one high-capacity data line such as T1 or ISDN
represents. The use of access line equivalents provides
a more accurate base of comparison for overall connection
capacity, as well as for financial metrics such as average
revenue per unit.
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ADSL 2+
An advanced form of DSL technology with bandwidth that enables
a greater range of services to be transmitted over existing
copper line infrastructure.
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Authorized agent
An independent distributor legally authorized by U.S. Cellular
to sell its products and services.
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C
CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access)
A wireless digital technology in which a unique code is
assigned to each word in a conversation. These codes are
then scrambled and sent over a wireless channel from one
wireless phone to another. CDMA's unique coding structure
filters all the codes and reassembles them in the correct
order so that significantly more people can carry on a separate
conversation on the same frequency without causing interference
or static. CDMA 1X is the next generation of CDMA technology
and is available in all U.S. Cellular markets.
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Cell
A geographical area, four to 20 miles, surrounding a radio
antenna designated for wireless transmission.
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Cell site
An arrangement of wires and metal rods used in transmitting
and receiving radio waves. In a wireless system, antennae
are mounted on radio structures at cell sites. Smaller antennae
are mounted on automobiles as part of a mobile phone installation
and directly on portable and transportable wireless phones.
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Churn rate
The percentage of customers disconnecting service each month.
All-in churn represents the percentage of the total
customer base that disconnects service each month. Post-pay
churn represents the percentage of the customer base
on post-pay service plans that disconnects service each
month. Post-pay service plans are those in which customers
are billed in arrears for service, such as customers who
are on contract.
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CLEC (Competitive Local Exchange
Carrier)
A company that competes with the established local telecommunications
company to provide voice and data communications services.
CLECs were a development of the Telecommunications Act of
1996.
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Coverage
A geographic area containing the cell sites that enable
a wireless phone user to make and receive calls. Each cell
site has an antenna with the ability to send and receive
signals. A coverage area is determined by the number and
location of cell sites in the surrounding area. As new sites
are added, calling areas are expanded, and/or call clarity
is improved.
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D
Digital
An advanced type of radio transmission that broadcasts voice
or data intact via radio waves, which allows for greater
call clarity, advanced wireless features and improved voice
capacity. The telecommunications industry uses three types
of digital technology: TDMA, CDMA and GSM.
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Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)
A DSL line transmits simultaneous voice and high-speed data
over existing copper telephone wires without the need of
additional phone lines.
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E
easyedgeSM
U.S. Cellular’s suite of wireless data services. easyedge
consists of easyedge Phone Download Service, easyedge
Picture Messaging and easyedge Wireless Modem Service.
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F
Federal Communications Commission
(FCC)
An independent federal agency of the U.S. government, authorized
by the Communications Act of 1934, responsible for managing
private and commercial communications spectrum and regulating
communications services in the United States.
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Footprint
The area in which a wireless service provider has operations
or is licensed to provide service.
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Frequency
A certain "size" of radio wave: the rate at which the electric
and magnetic fields of a radio wave vibrate per second.
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FTTP (Fiber-to-the-Premises)
A fiber-optic network that connects directly from the carrier
network to the user premises. Another fiber-optic network
is FTTC (Fiber to the Curb), which connects from
the carrier network to the curb, and from there to the premises
by copper wire or coaxial cable.
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I
ILEC (Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier)
An independent local telephone company that formerly had
the exclusive right and responsibility to provide local
transmission and switching services in its designated service
territory.
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M
Major Trading Area (MTA)
An area defined by the U.S. government and used by the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) to designate personal communication
service market areas.
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MMS (Multimedia Messaging Services)
The next generation of text messaging. In addition to voice
and text, audio-visual content can be exchanged allowing
much richer content including, photography, voice and video
clips.
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P
PCS (Personal Communications Service)
Originally meant to describe digital service offered at
a higher frequency (1900 MHz) than wireless, it is now used
as a generic term for all digital (versus analog) wireless.
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PON (Passive Optical Network)
A fiber-based network built without active electronics.
Because a PON uses optical splitters rather than costly
active electronics, it is less expensive to build and maintain
than a network that uses active electronics. PONs are still
more expensive than copper-based networks. A PON is usually
used in a local loop to connect customers to the central
office. BPON (Broadband Passive Optical Network)
is a broadband PON.
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POP (Population equivalents)
The population of a market multiplied by the percentage
ownership of that market.
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R
Roaming
Use of a wireless phone outside the home-service area. Roaming
can incur additional charges to the customer, depending
on the customer's calling plan. If a customer roams on a
different carrier's network, that customer’s wireless provider
pays a negotiated amount to the other carrier.
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S
SMS
The generic term for text messaging. SMS enables customers
to send and receive text messages to and from wireless phones.
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Spectrum
Federal government designation of a range of frequencies
for a category of use or uses. For example, the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) allocated the 1900 MHz band
for personal communications services.
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T
TDMA
A wireless digital technology designed to increase channel
capacity by separating each wireless call's signal into
pieces and assigning each one piece to a time slot that
lasts a fraction of a second. Using TDMA, a single voice
connection can be used to handle up to three wireless phone
conversations simultaneously.
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Telephone network
The system of wires, fiber-optic cables, satellites, and
transmission towers that transmit telephone messages from
caller to receiver..
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V
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
A technology used to transmit voice over a data network
using Internet Protocol, such as the Internet or intranet
networks.
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W
Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity)
A technology that provides short-range, high-speed data
connections between mobile data devices (such as laptops)
and nearby Wi-Fi access points (hardware connected to a
wired network).
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Wireless
Voice and data telecommunications technology that uses the
radio-frequency spectrum rather than wires for transmitting
and receiving voice, data and video signals.
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Wireline
A wireline telephone network versus a wireless network.
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WNP (Wireless Number Portability)
Number portability is a service that will enable landline
and wireless phone customers to keep their existing phone
number when switching from one service provider to another
within the same local calling area.
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