3G Mobile — Wireless networks built for digital voice and high-speed data, including video.

4G Mobile — The next generation of wireless networks, designed to offer broadband speeds and integrate different types of mobile technology.

10 Gbps and 100 Gbps Interfaces — The connection speeds of physical facilities in the network, i.e., 10 gigabits per second and 100 gigabits per second.

ANSI (American National Standards Institute) — An organization that oversees the development of standards for products and services in the United States and a source for international standards.

Bandwidth — The carrying capacity of a communications channel.

Broadband — A high-bandwidth fiber optic, coaxial or hybrid line with the capacity to carry numerous voice, data and video channels at once.

Carrier Ethernet — A scalable, manageable carrier-class network that delivers standardized Ethernet services with Quality of Service (QoS) and high levels of reliability.

Cloud Computing — A process to deliver hosted or virtualized services over the Internet.

Conflict Minerals — Minerals such as gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum, which come from mines in or near regions of armed conflicts.

Converged Network — A network architecture that combines separate networks into a single network.

Data — Any network traffic other than voice phone calls. Increasingly, phone calls and video are encoded and transported as data.

Dongle — Hardware that attaches to a computer in order to connect to the Internet through mobile networks.

Ethernet — A data network standard to connect computers, printers, workstations, terminals and servers.

Fiber Access — Fiber-optic systems that deliver broadband services to businesses, homes and government facilities.

Gateway — A network device that acts as an entrance to another network and performs functions including signaling control, QoS and security.

IP (Internet Protocol) — Rules that enable cooperating computers to share information across a network.

Layers — A protocol model that defines the requirements for communication and interaction in the network.

LTE (Long-Term Evolution) — The next generation of mobile communications services with improved performance and faster speeds.

Machine-to-Machine Communications — Enables a wireless or wireline device to interact with another device, without direct human intervention.

Mobile Backhaul — A process of aggregating and transmitting mobile traffic from cell sites to a main transmission network.

Mobile Fronthaul — A process of aggregating and transmitting mobile traffic among cell sites, without going through a network hub.

Mobile Packet Core — The signaling and gateway core infrastructure in a mobile network for 3G and 4G networks.

ONT (Optical Network Terminal) — A device that connects a fiber-access network to a home, business or government facility to deliver voice, data and video services.

Optical Transport — A technology that transmits communications traffic in the form of laser light over fiber-optic cable.

OTN (Optical Transport Network) — A transport technology that combines multiple transport formats such as Ethernet, IP, SONET and SDH through its multiprotocol abilities.

Petabytes — A unit of information, a computer memory or data storage capacity equal to 1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes.

Professional Services — Services such as network architecture and design, network migration and optimization, and analytics.

QoS (Quality of Service) — A measurement of integrity of traffic moving over a network. QoS is especially important for real-time transmissions such as financial transactions and video.

ROADM (Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer) — A system that enables the remote configuration of any wavelength on any network element, reducing the need to dispatch technicians.

Router — A device that sends Internet Protocol (IP) traffic, or packets, to specific destinations.

Smartphone — A mobile device that integrates the functionality of a mobile phone, personal digital assistant or other information appliance, often with personal computer functionality.

Tablet — A mobile electronic device that provides functionality similar to a personal computer, in a smaller form.

TEER (Telecommunications Energy Efficiency Ratio) — A standard method to measure network components' energy-efficiency, based on useful work divided by energy used.

Telematics — Mobile broadband technology integrated into vehicles to enable vehicle diagnostics, calling for roadside assistance, tracking of stolen vehicles and full Internet connectivity.

Transport — A process of moving voice, data or video across communications networks.

WiMax — A technology that provides wireless transmission of data for both point-to-point and mobile applications.

Wireline — Networks that use cables rather than radio frequency.