Metallic path facilities

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Metallic path facility (MPF) are the unshielded twisted pair of copper wires that run from a main distribution frame (MDF) at a local telephone exchange to the customer. In this variant, both broadband and voice (baseband) services, together potentially with a video on demand service, are provided to the end user by a single communications provider. MPF services are typically delivered through use of an MSAN.

Main distribution frame

In telephony, a main distribution frame is a signal distribution frame for connecting equipment to cables and subscriber carrier equipment.

In telecommunications, broadband is wide bandwidth data transmission which transports multiple signals and traffic types. The medium can be coaxial cable, optical fiber, radio or twisted pair.

Video on demand systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand

Video on demand (VOD) is a programming system which allows users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content such as movies and TV shows whenever they choose, rather than at a scheduled broadcast time, the method that prevailed with over-the-air programming during the 20th century. IPTV technology is commonly used to bring VOD to televisions and personal computers.

Shared metallic path facility (SMPF) is a based on the same technology as MPF, but denotes a variant whereby an Internet Service Provider (ISP) provides a broadband service to the end user but hands the voice (baseband) service back to the PTT/ILEC. Hence the provision of services over the end users copper wires might be shared between two providers. With SMPF, the non-incumbent service provider could purchase wholesale the voice service provision from the PTT/ILEC to allow the former to control the customer relationship for both broadband and voice services. In the UK at least, this service is called Wholesale Line Rental (WLR). SMPF services are typically delivered through use of a DSLAM.

A postal, telegraph, and telephone service is a government agency responsible for postal mail, telegraph, and telephone services. Such monopolies existed in many countries, though not in North America or Japan. Many PTTs have been partially or completely privatized in recent years. In some of those privatizations, the PTT was renamed completely, whereas in others, the name of the privatized corporation has been only slightly modified, such as PT Telkom in Indonesia.

Both terms are commonly used, for example by Ofcom and Openreach in the UK, to denote a local-loop unbundling service, designed to ensure a former monopoly player (deemed to have Significant Market Power, or SMP) allows a level playing field or Equivalence of Inputs. [1]

Ofcom british government agency

The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the UK government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.

Openreach is a functional division of telecommunications company BT plc, that maintains the telephone cables, ducts, cabinets and exchanges that connect nearly all homes and businesses in the United Kingdom to the national broadband and telephone network.

Local loop unbundling is the regulatory process of allowing multiple telecommunications operators to use connections from the telephone exchange to the customer's premises. The physical wire connection between the local exchange and the customer is known as a "local loop", and is owned by the incumbent local exchange carrier. To increase competition, other providers are granted unbundled access.

See also

In telephony, the local loop is the physical link or circuit that connects from the demarcation point of the customer premises to the edge of the common carrier or telecommunications service provider's network.

Telephone exchange telecommunications system used in public switched telephone networks or in large enterprises

A telephone exchange is a telecommunications system used in the public switched telephone network or in large enterprises. An exchange consists of electronic components and in older systems also human operators that interconnect (switch) telephone subscriber lines or virtual circuits of digital systems to establish telephone calls between subscribers.

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Digital subscriber line is a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL), the most commonly installed DSL technology, for Internet access.

Digital subscriber line access multiplexer Network equipment

A digital subscriber line access multiplexer is a network device, often located in telephone exchanges, that connects multiple customer digital subscriber line (DSL) interfaces to a high-speed digital communications channel using multiplexing techniques.

Demarcation point Boundary of a private and public network

In telephony, the demarcation point is the point at which the public switched telephone network ends and connects with the customer's on-premises wiring. It is the dividing line which determines who is responsible for installation and maintenance of wiring and equipment—customer/subscriber, or telephone company/provider. The demarcation point varies between countries and has changed over time.

A competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), in the United States and Canada, is a telecommunications provider company competing with other, already established carriers.

KCOM Group is a UK communications and IT services provider. Its headquarters are in the city of Kingston upon Hull, a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, and it serves local residents and businesses with Internet and telephony services. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

A naked DSL, also known as standalone or dry loop DSL) is a digital subscriber line (DSL) without a PSTN service — or the associated dial tone. In other words, only a standalone DSL Internet service is provided on the local loop.

The 21st Century Network (21CN) programme is the data and voice network transformation project, under way since 2004, of the UK telecommunications company BT Group plc. It was intended to move BT's telephone network from the AXE/System X Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to an Internet Protocol (IP) system. As well as switching over the PSTN, BT planned to deliver many additional services over their new data network, such as on-demand interactive TV services.

Be Un Limited

Be Unlimited was an Internet service provider in the United Kingdom between 2004 and 2014. Initially founded as an independent company by Boris Ivanovic and Dana Tobak in 2005, it was bought by Spanish group Telefónica Europe in 2006 before being sold on to BSkyB in March 2013 in an agreement which saw BSkyB buy the fixed telephone line and broadband business of Telefónica Europe which at the time traded under the O2 and BE brands. The deal saw BSkyB agree to pay £180 million initially, followed by a further £20 million after all customers had been transferred to Sky's existing business. The sale was subject to regulatory approval in April 2013, and was subsequently approved by the Office of Fair Trading on 16 May 2013.

In the United Kingdom a Migration Authorisation Code (MAC) was a 17 to 19-character unique identifier code used by DSL customers when they wish to switch internet service provider (ISP). A MAC is generated by the actual telecommunication provider, identifies the local loop to be switched, and authorises the provider to switch the customer to the new ISP.

Unbundled network elements (UNEs) are a requirement mandated by the United States Telecommunications Act of 1996. They are the parts of the telecommunications network that the incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) are required to offer on an unbundled basis. Together, these parts make up a local loop that connects to a digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM), a voice switch or both. The loop allows non-facilities-based telecommunications providers to deliver service without having to lay network infrastructure such as copper wire, optical fiber, and coaxial cable.

BT Wholesale and Ventures is a division of United Kingdom telecommunications company BT Group that provides voice, broadband, data, hosted communication, managed network and IT services to communications providers (CPs) in Great Britain, including BT's other divisions: BT Consumer, BT Business and Public Sector and EE. They also offer services for media companies and broadcasters, and its ventures side offers a range of products and services. It provides the voice services to UK customers via 999, 118 500 and Next Generation Text Service, which helps those who can’t hear or speak on the phone. The division is also leading the BT thinking on the internet of things.

In local telephone networks, a loop management system (LMS) is a kind or a part of network management system intended to maximize local loop control. Sometimes it is referred to as local loop management (LLM) or copper loop management (CLM).

The Service Provider Gateway system is a provisioning gateway in a telecoms' network used as part of wholesale line rental to allow telecoms operators to control provisioning on the Openreach network.

Internet in the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has been involved with the Internet since it was created. The telecommunications infrastructure provides Internet access to businesses and home users in various forms, including cable, DSL, and wireless. The Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the United Kingdom is .uk and is sponsored by Nominet.

Geographic Number Portability Unbundled Line Metallic Path or GLUMP is a product related to Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) in Ireland. Geographic Number Portability (GNP) is the process of a user moving their number to a new address. Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) is the process of a line being used by a 3rd party to provide a service on the incumbent's exchange or line. Comreg and eircom, the incumbent telecom company, have named the combination GLUMP.

In a UK telephone line, the term D-side or distribution side refers at any point on a local loop connection between a customer's premises and a telephone exchange to the wires leaving into the direction of the customer. Conversely, E-side is the exchange side of a telephone line, that is the wires leaving any connection point into the direction of the telephone exchange.

References

  1. ↑ "Ofcom glossary: EOI". Ofcom . HM Government . Retrieved 12 November 2014.
BT Group British multinational telecommunications holding company

BT Group plc is a British multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-line, broadband and mobile services in the UK, and also provides subscription television and IT services.

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