Industry Glossary

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (http://www.acma.gov.au/)

A transmission standard that uses variable frequencies and amplitudes of electrical impulses to emulate the audio waveform of sound. An analog telephone line is referred to as a Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) line. Traditional form of telecommunications transmission in a constant variable wave, rather than in packet-based (or digital) form.

A backbone is a larger transmission line that carries data gathered from smaller lines that interconnect with it. 1) At the local level, a backbone is a line or set of lines that local area networks connect to for a wide area network connection or within a local area network to span distances efficiently (for example, between buildings). 2) On the Internet or other wide area network, a backbone is a set of paths that local or regional networks connect to for long-distance interconnection. The connection points are known as network nodes or telecommunication data switching exchanges (DSEs).

Bandwidth refers to how much data you can send through a network or modem connection. It is usually measured in bits per second, or "bps." You can think of bandwidth as a highway with cars travelling on it. The highway is the network connection and the cars are the data. The wider the highway, the more cars can travel on it at one time. Therefore more cars can get to their destinations faster. The same principle applies to computer data -- the more bandwidth, the more information that can be transferred within a given amount of time.

Conditional Access System - A system to control subscriber access to broadcast services, programmes and events.

3.7-4.2 gigahertz (Ghz) frequency band used for distribution of programming by most satellite and cable networks.

Cost Per Mille - derived from the Latin 'mille' meaning thousand, hence Cost per Thousand. It means the cost of reaching one thousand members in the specified target audience.

Signal path from satellite to earth, the opposite of earth-to-satellite uplink; downlinked signals are diffused and weak on approach to earth station receivers, and hence easily displaced by terrestrial WiMAX signals which are several thousand times stronger.

Digital rights management - a systematic approach to copyright protection for digital media. DRM's purpose is to prevent illegal distribution of paid content over the Internet.

Direct-To-Home - Typically refers to satellite TV broadcasting directly to a dish antenna on the roof of a house.

Digital Video Broadcasting - Collection of open standards for digital television maintained by the DVB Project. The family of DVB standards includes DVB-S (satellite), DVB (cable) DVB-T (terrestrial) and DVB-H (mobile handsets). DVB standards also cover conditional access (DVB-CA), software platforms for consumer video applications (DVB-MHP) and return channels.

Devices that allow TV viewers to Timeshift, pause and fast forward (until realtime) using hard-drive video storage.