Fixed Line Phones

Fixed lines phones are the oldest form of phone technology and are rapidly being replaced by other forms such as mobile, satellite and VoIP phone services. The majority of fixed line phone services are operated by each country's (oldest) incumbent telecommunications provider. This section of their business is in decline with the prices charged for calls declining, and many customers forgoing a fixed line for other forms of phone service.

Whilst the fixed line business is in decline, the (copper) infrastructure upon which it is implemented can be used to support DSL broadband connections. Depending on a country's telecommunications and competition regulations, different companies can operate the voice and data (DSL) networks across the same home / business copper connection.

An example of such a service is Telstra's Fixed line network. Telstra is Australia's incumbent provider and offers all major voice and data network types to the Australian population.

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Mobile (Cell) Phones

Mobile phones use radio instead of a physical connection (i.e. copper for Fixed Line phones) to transmit customers' voice and data connections. Mobile phones (a.k.a. cell phones) are increasingly popular with over one billion service active using the GSM phone standard. Alternative mobile phone standards include CDMA, PHS (mostly to Japan), PDC (Japan), TDMA (in the US and many other countries), AMPS (an analogue network being replaced by digital networks), and TACS (an older European standard).

Examples of mobile phone networks include Vodafone which has deployed similar networks around the world, and '3' which is using new 3G phone technologies to build a common worldwide phone network.

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Satellite Phones

Satellite phones are a specialised form of mobile phones whose core benefit is the wider geographical range of connectivity. Mobile phones have a range of a few kilometers from their base stations, but satellite phones are broadcast down from space (orbit) providing a much broader available 'footprint' within which to operate. Multiple satellites are used to provide constant availability, with customers able to call from anywhere on the Earth's surface. Satellite phones (like their fixed and mobile equivalents) can also be used to transmit data as well as voice calls.

Satellites phones also come in 'brief case' and other forms (e.g. marine domes) and are usually used in locations without alternative communication networks. e.g. remote mine sites, exploration of the South Polar ice shelf, on yachts sailing around the world. Satellite phone services usually cost substantially more for both handsets (equipment) and phone calls than their terrestrial equivalents.

Examples of satellite networks include the Iridium and Globalstar systems. Each of these networks connect to ground-based fixed-line and mobile phone networks to complete their calls.

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Internet Service Provider (ISP)

Internet Service Providers are the gateways through which individuals and businesses connect to the wider internet. They may provide just internet connectivity, or have products and services of their own to offer (e.g. AOL).

ISPs use high bandwidth connections to the internet to channel their customers' aggregated internet use, and they connect their individual customers through to the internet using a wide range of network access technologies. Most ISPs now provide (or plan to provide) all of the contemporary network types, and seek to move customers from the oldest (low profit margin) forms of connectivity to more recent (higher margin / functionality) examples.

Examples of connectivity from Australian ISPs include: dial-up from the DoDo Internet, DSL from the TPG ISP, and Wireless Broadband from 'Unwired'. Aside from wireless broadband access, all these ISPs offer both dial-up and DSL services.

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Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)

Voice over IP digitises voice calls and transmits them over the internet (or a company's internal data network) as packets of data. The two ends of the phone call use software (or specialised equipment) to turn the packets into sound (voice) and vice versa. When VoIP calls are made to (and from) the fixed line and mobile phone networks, additional equipment within an VoIP operator's network provides a bridge that converts between the VoIP and non-VoIP (fixed, mobile) networks.

Since VoIP calls are (at their most basic level) data packets, they may be performed between PCs (e.g. PC to PC, PC to Phone), PCs may have phone-like hardware attached that allows users to make calls in a familiar manner, or regular phones can be connected to an IP network using specialised hardware.

Examples of VoIP networks include Skype and Vonage. Skype has approached VoIP calls from a PC-based software basis, whilst Vonage uses an ATA network box to connect a customer's IP-based network to their regular phone network/handsets.

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Cable TV

Cables often attached to street electrical poles are used to deliver up to 100 or more TV channels to subscribers. Some channels will be retransmissions of free-to-air broadcast TV, but the remainder will be based on separate channels deicated to the news (from around the world), syndicated drama series (often re-runs), channels dedicated to children, movies (recent, from the archives, adult), and major sports from around the world.

Examples of Cable TV in the US include Comcast and Cox Cable. In Australia the dominant cable company is FOXTEL who has content sharing agreements with its cable and satellite competitors.

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Satellite TV

TV channels are beamed down from satellites located in geo-stationary orbits (~35,600 kilometres above sea-level). Based on the 'view' available at that height, the satellite's transmitter(s) can cover a much wider area than any cable TV or terrestrial broadcast network. Subscribers use (relatively small) satellite dishes to collect the TV signal and pass it into their TV via a set-top box.

The same infrastructure can be used to provide high-speed internet access, though a return channel (e.g. via dial-up) to te Satellite TV ISP must be provided. Many of the same features available in Cable TV can be provided, but without a return path to the Cable TV servers, interactive features are difficult to support.

Examples of satellite TV include DirecTV in the US, BSkyB in the UK and Austar in Australia.

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