There are currently 170 names in this directory
ADSL
Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line - DSL variant that allows for greater bandwidth for incoming than outgoing signals.
Analog
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.
Backbone
A backbone is a larger transmission line that carries data gathered from smaller lines that interconnect with it.
- 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).
- 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).
Backhaul
In satellite communication, backhaul is used to mean getting data to a point from which it can be distributed over a network. For example, to deliver a live television program from Chicago to authorized DirecPC satellite terminals around the country, the video signals would have to be backhauled by some means (by optical fiber cable or by another satellite system) to the Hughes DirecPC facility in Germantown, Maryland. From there, it would be uplinked to the Galaxy IV satellite from which DirecPC users could view the broadcast (receive it in a downlink from the satellite at their individual terminals). Backhauling is also used to get non-live audio and video material to distribution points at the major broadcast news organizations for broadcast in the evening or ongoing news.
Bandwidth
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.
C-Band
Frequency originally allocated for communications satellites - 3.7-4.2 GHz for downlink, 5.925-6.425 GHz for uplink; lower C-band frequencies are more robust for transmissions in rainy weather, compared to Ku- or Ka-band frequencies.
C-Band satellite
3.7-4.2 gigahertz (Ghz) frequency band used for distribution of programming by most satellite and cable networks.
CAGR
Compound Annual Growth Rate - The year-over-year growth rate of an investment over a specified period of time.
CAS
Conditional Access System - A system to control subscriber access to broadcast services, programs and events.
CPM
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.
Digital
- In communications and computer technology, digital refers to a method of encoding information using a binary system made up of zeroes and ones. In communications technology this takes the form of two very different electrical voltages, several volts positive and negative, to represent the two values. This substantial difference in voltages for each state makes it unlikely that minor fluctuations in voltage due to electro-magnetic interference will change the way a signal is interpreted when received.
- Information that is encoded into bits and bytes, or packets (0s and 1s, computer binary language). Generally perceived to be an advanced communication form offering clearer signals and increased transmission capacity.
Downlink
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.
DRAM
Dynamic Random Access Memory. Computer memory that requires power to maintain the stored information.
DRM
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.
DSL
Digital Subscriber Line - Generic term for technologies that permit the delivery of broadband services over voice telephony networks.
DTH
Direct-To-Home - Typically refers to satellite TV broadcasting directly to a dish antenna on the roof of a house.
DTV-Digital TV
General term for TV services that are transmitted into the home digitally, where they are received either by a set-top box decoder, which converts them into analogue form for display on a conventional analogue TV set, or by an integrated digital TV receiver.
DVB
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.
DVB-H
Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB), is a suite of internationally accepted open standards for digital television. H stands for handheld.
DVR (Digital Video Recorder)
Devices that allow TV viewers to Timeshift, pause and fast forward (until realtime) using hard-drive video storage.
EOL
End Of Life - Refers to hardware and software that is no longer manufactured or supported. An end of life announcement by a vendor stipulates when the manufacturing will end, or if already ended, how far into the future support for the product will be provided.
EST
Electronic Sell Through - Ownership model, providing unlimited viewing rights. Ability to download to physical discs or transferred to a portable player.
Flash
Flash memory – primarily used in memory cards and USB flash drives (thumb drives, handy drive, memory stick, flash stick, jump drive) for general storage and transfer of data between computers and other digital products. Does not require power to maintain stored information.
Free To Air (FTA)
Television channels or services for which viewers do not have to pay a subscription or other fee in order to receive them.
FSS
Fixed Satellite System - A satellite that is at an altitude and in an orbit such that it maintains a fixed position relative to the Earth's surface. An FSS is in contrast to an MSS (Mobile Satellite System). FSS is synonymous with geosynchronous earth orbiting (GEO) satellite.
FTTH
Ffiber To The Home - Wired broadband communications technology in which the entire network to the home is constructed out of fibre optic cable. Benefiting from a significant decline in material prices, FTTH is emerging as a viable two-way residential communications technology in several countries, including Japan, Hong Kong, Canada, Italy and the Nordic countries.
FTTN
Fiber to the node/neighborhood – a telecommunication architecture based on fiber-optic cables run to a cabinet serving a neightborhood. Customers connect to this cabinet using traditional coaxial cable or twisted pair wiring.
GDP
Gross Domestic Product - The sum of all output produced by economic activity within a country. GNP (gross national income) include net income from abroad eg, rent, profits.
GDP per capita
The value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year, divided by the average population for the same year.
Geostationary satellite
Orbiting 36,000 km above the earth, a geostationary satellite holds a constant position relative to the earth’s surface
HDTV
High Definition TV - An all-digital TV broadcast signal that delivers a high-resolution, wide-screen picture and 6 channels of digital sound. A resolution of 1,080 lines is considered high definition imagery, although 720 lines of progressive scanning has now come to be considered high resolution as well.
HFC
Hybrid Fibre Coaxial - Most commonly found wiring format of cable television systems, where the main trunk cables and larger feeds consist of high capacity fibre optic wires, whilst the local feeds to the home are coaxial. Commonly used by US and Canadian Cable TV Operators.
HITS
Headend-In-The-Sky - A satellite-based cable distribution platform through which hundreds of digital quality cable television channels can be distributed to the entire country simultaneously. Consumers can subscribe to these channels via a set-top box from their local cable operators.
HSPDA
High-Speed Downlink Packet Access - A packet-based mobile telephony protocol used in 3G UMTS radio networks to increase data capacity and speed up transfer rates.
Impacts
One impact is one person's viewing of one commercial. Total montly impacts means the assessment of the performance of television stations in reaching target audiences.
Index
A measure of relative performance in which each demographic is indexed against a base demographic. An index figure of more than 100 means the demographic performed better than the base demographic.
Interactivity
A catch-all word used to describe digital TV viewers' ability to interact with the TV for services including advertiser information.
IPTV
Internet Protocol television - the delivery of digital television and other video and audio services over broadband networks using Internet Protocol.
ISP
Company offering internet connections to individuals, companies and other organizations. An ISP may provide internet access via a number of different technologies with varying connection speeds and levels of service quality, including telephone dial-up, ISDN, DSL and cable.
L-Band
Long Wavelength Band - The ITU-T standard optical transmission window in the wavelength range of 1,565, used in GPS satellites, satellite phones, misc commsats and SETI outer space exploration.
MIIT
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (China), formerly Ministry of Information Industry (MII)
Multicast
- To transmit data to multiple recipients on the network at the same time using one transmission stream to the switches, at which point data are distributed out to the end users on separate lines. Contrast with "unicast," in which there is a separate transmission stream from source to destination for each recipient. When sending large volumes of data, multicast saves considerable bandwidth over unicast. See IP multicast, IGMP and SRM.
- In digital television broadcasting, to send multiple standard TV (SDTV) programs in the allotted bandwidth, rather than one high-definition TV (HDTV) program.
NVOD
Near Video On Demand - Transactional/rental fee paid to view scheduled content, but scheduled so often as to seem "on demand" (no video function capabilities)
OCCUR
Open Cable Unidirectional Receiver - A digital cable receiver with a tune, a Card interface, and an Internet Protocol (IP) interface intended to enable multi-user, multi-room scenarios that provide digital cable audio-visual programming over an IP connection to a Home Media Server (HMS).
Opt-in footnote
In this report, a series of footnotes to the ITU Table of Frequency Allocations adopted by the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) in 2007. Though the WRC did not disturb the primary allocation of C-band frequencies to satellite services, it did codify the possibility for regulators who “opt in” to choose to allocate C-band frequencies for future mobile telephony systems. In Asia, 10 administrations decided to be included in these new footnotes: Bangladesh, China, India, Iran, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Pakistan,Singapore and French Overseas Communities in Region 3.
Out of Home Viewing
Viewing by a panel members outside their permanent residence. This viewing is not captured in the ratings system.
PDR
A personal digital recorder - equipment that can digitally record programs onto a normal computer-like hard drive.
Penetration
Percentage of all homes or a given demographic which subscribe to either satellite or cable TV; or, the percentage of cable homes passed which actually subscribe.
Potential Audience
Also known as population or universe estimate. The total available people within the designated universe who meet the nominated audience criteria.
PPV
Pay-per-view (often abbreviated PPV) is the system in which television viewers can purchase events to be seen on TV and pay for the private telecast of that event to their homes. The event is shown at the same time to everyone ordering it, as opposed to video on demand systems, which allow viewers to see the event at any time. Events can be purchased using an on-screen guide, an automated telephone system, or through a live customer service representative. Events include feature films, sporting events, and pornographic movies. There is no video function capabilities such as Pause, Rewind, Fast Forward.
PVR
Personal Video Recorder - A device, also called Digital video recorder (DVR), which uses a hard drive to record and store digital video content. An important feature of the PVR is that it enables viewers to pause, fast-forward and rewind live programmes. Some of the appliances also have the capability to suggest programmes for users by recognising their viewing behaviour.
REI
Regulatory Environment Index. Derived by seven key aspects of regulation objectively by industry experts in CASBAA Asian Satellite Services Report.
Research
The number or percent of different people who have been 'X' min (Reach threshold) of a programme or time band. Traditionally programme reach analysis is based on a Reach threshold of 5 consecutive minutes and commercial spot analysis is based on 1 min. Also can be referred to as Coverage or Cumulative Research.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication)
Software system making use of feed reader or aggregator programs that facilitates subscriber access to their favourite web sites by helping to check feeds and pick out materials of interest to them.
SD
SDTV (Standard Definition TV) refers to television systems that have a resolution that meets standards but not considered either enhanced definition or high definition. The term is usually used in reference to digital television, in particular when broadcasting at the same (or similar) resolution as analog systems.
Sling Box
TV streaming device enabling users to view programming that they receive at home in distant locations, whether on a PC or other device (e.g. 3G mobile handset, PDA, etc.) with a broadband Internet connection. Developed by Sling Media Inc. in California, the Slingbox can be used for connectivity between devices in the home as well as anywhere in the world via the broadband Internet. The Slingbox has the ability to programme PVRs and Set-top Boxes via a separate infrared cable.
SMATV
MATV system equipped with one or more satellite receivers for picking up additional TV channels via satellite.
Sports Active
An interactive service enabling subscribers to view various video feeds as well as information on the game and players, such as player statistics, different camera angles and current scores during a game.
Spot
(Television Commercial/ Advertisement) Refers to the purchase of TV commercial time on a market-by-market basis as opposed to network (national) purchases. Also commonly used in lieu of "commercial announcement".
STU
Set Top Unit - the device which traditionally sits on top of the TV to interface between cable or satellite signals and the TV/VCR.
SVOD
Subscription Video On Demand - Regular subscription fee (e.g. monthly) paid to access a package of on demand content.
TARP
Target Audience Rating Point - the average viewing audience for a demographic expressed as a percentage of the relevant universe. Also expressed as an absolute figure (average audience).
The DGPT
The Directorate General of Posts and Telecommunications (Indonesia) (http://www.postel.go.id/)
Timeshift Channel
TimeShift channels give subscribers the opportunity to view scheduled programming two hours later (+2) than broadcast on the main channel.
Unicast
In computer networks, unicast is the sending of information packets to a single destination. "Unicast" is derived from the word broadcast, as unicast is the extreme opposite of broadcasting. In computer networking, multicasting is used to regain some of the efficiencies of broadcasting. These terms are also synonymous with streaming content providers' services. Unicast servers provide a stream to a single user at a time, while multicast servers can support a larger audience by serving content simultaneously to multiple users. Unicast is also the name of a Rich Media Company which was acquired by Viewpoint Corporation in 2003.
VCCI
The Voluntary Control Council for Interference by Information Technology Interference (Japan) (http://www.vcci.or.jp/vcci_e/index.html)
VOD
A service offered by cable companies which is a means of viewing content that is outside the boundaries of its daily televised offerings. VOD content consists of recently aired television programs and library content, which is usually movies or programs that have not recently been aired. There are three models of VOD content - free VOD, Pay-Per-View, where the user pays an individual fee per program or event, and subscription VOD, where the user pays a flat fee for access.
VOIP
Voice Over Internet Protoco - Voice telephony services delivered over network infrastructures using the Internet Protocol.
VoIP Phone
A VoIP phone is a telephone set designed specifically for use in a voice over IP (VoIP) system by converting standard telephone audio into a digital format that can be transmitted over the Internet, and by converting incoming digital phone signals from the Internet to standard telephone audio. A VoIP phone allows the user to take advantage of VoIP technology without involving a personal computer, although an Internet connection is required.
VSAT
Very Small Aperture Terminal - Small earth stations with a satellite dish usually 4-6 feet in diameter used to receive high speed data transmissions; can also transmit slow-speed data.
W-CDMA
Wireless Code Division Multiple Access - A mobile telecommunications protocol that utilizes the direct sequence Code Division Multiple Access signal method in order to achieve faster transmission rates and support more users.
Wi-Fi
Wireless Fidelity - Popular term for technologies based on the IEEE standards from the 802.11 working group on wireless local area networks (WLAN), though strictly defined as a certification mark of equipment conformity and inoperability, based on that family of standards.
WiMax
Worldwide Interoperability Access - Popular term for technologies based on the IEEE standards from the 802.16 working group (though like Wi-Fi strictly created as a certification mark of equipment conformity and interoperability based on those standards). Potential use includes enabling the delivery of wireless broadband access over the last mile as an alternative to wired delivery (e.g. cable and DSL). WiMAX has much greater range than Wi-Fi and uses licensed spectrum. The two are widely viewed as complimentary technologies.
Wireless
Wireless communication is the transfer of information over a distance without the use of electrical conductors or "wires".