Introduction

With the advent of the Internet, email, cell phones, instant messaging, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and many other forms of electronic communication, the term “telecommunications” means something different than it did 30 years ago. It used to mean what the telephone could do. Recently I asked a retired college professor—now working in a library—where I might find books on telecommunications. He directed me to the marketing section. I asked another and he assumed I meant the Internet only. It’s really all of these things. But what is the foundation on which they all depend?

During my thirty seven year career in the telephony I saw constant change. But some things changed very little. The changes came in speed and use of the network. This required equipment updates and changes in who had direct access to the network. The idea of allowing a competitor access to a switch was unheard of until governmental demands required old Ma Bell to open her doors. What stayed the same was the need to use physical connections to create the network.

This blog is for the curious but non-technical person who wants to know more about the telecommunication network and its confusing parts. It is also for people in the telecommunications industry that need or want simple explanations for areas they may not work in directly. I hope my descriptions give you an appreciation of the network that makes your communication devices work. It is not intended to be a technical blog (there are plenty of those), but to explain to the average person the network and its parts.

The next several posts will be extracts from my essay; Simplyfying the Complex World of the Telecommunications Network, which was written about this network in the United States. This essay was offered in a Telecom group in LinkedIn. It made its way to people working in this industry in more than 36 countries around the world. It was obvious that there was some demand for simple explanations and some history of this network. With some help from my contacts around the world , I hope to include some history of the network development in those countries. I will be happy to accept any data that is offered.