The company is currently using a POTS system, where their local loop is communicating through their central office (CO) to the local exchange carrier (LEC). The local loop runs in a literal loop around the central office, hitting every customer along its loop. All points on the local loop where it touches a customer creates a Point-of-Presence (POP) for the customer’s equipment. From the LEC the signal hits another POP between the local carrier and the Interexchange Carrier (IXC), in order to provide long distance functionality. Every LEC will have to use a POP to communicate with an IXC for long-distance services. Cellphone technology has moved leaps and bounds since its inception. The first generation transmitted voice over an analog format, but as the technology advanced, it switched to a digital signal. In addition, after the abilities of a cell phone became clear, advancements were made in order to transmit data over the cell network. On the 2G networks there was only speed enough for very basic pages. Now, you can stream TV and movies over the 4G network. Network topologies are segments of a telecommunications network that are designed to distribute information to and from customers all over the world. The design of the topology is based on the distance from the customer and the purpose of the information being transmitted. The beginning point from the customer’s perspective is the demarcation point, or demark. This point is where the inside equipment for the site meets the local carrier. The signal incoming to the demark comes from a copper cable that is converted to an electrical signal over coax cable, and transmitted to the main boxes. From the demark to the main network, the signal hits the access network. The access network is the gateway between the demark and the local exchange. It is the equipment that controls the switching at the local exchange between the exchange and the customers. From there, the signal passes onto the metro network, and the regional network. The metro network (MAN) and the regional network (WAN) are larger versions of a local area network (LAN). The metro handles local exchanges for a specific provider as well as other independent service providers, and forwards it to regional networks. The regional network is responsible for aggregating information from networks. It is the final place information goes before hitting the main core network. Cable TV has made some great advances as well. When it was first implemented, it operated over the radio waves. One of the biggest limits of this was range, as the weak signal found at longer ranges would garble the picture at the end point. The solution for this issue is the Community Antenna Television (CATV). This amplified the signal so the broadcast would go over further distances. Eventually, however, the signal was ran over copper coax and fiber-optic cabling directly to people’s houses. The cables would run to a Network Access Point (NAP), which is the terminal that serves as a connection point for the cabling into the houses or buildings it serves. A cable will then run from the NAP to the Network Interface Device (NID), which is mounted on the building itself. It is the carrier’s drop point to the customer’s house, as usually the customer is responsible for everything from the NID up to their equipment. The telecommunication companies now, for the most part, handle all of these functions. One of the biggest companies around was AT&T until 1982, when it was broken up by the US government. They were divided into 7 RBOCs, which handle all services by region. However, AT&T purchased 4 of these regions by 2006. One thing these RBOCs are required to do as of 1996 is lease parts of their networks to smaller companies, so they can provide access to customers while not owning the local loop. This is known as unbundling the network. There are also several multiple system operators (MSOs) that are operating in the country. These MSOs run several different cable TV systems at once over the same signal. Many of these MSOs are also Internet service providers (ISPs), which provide access to the internet by several different modes. Some examples are broadband, dialup and DSL. The easiest way for these companies to gain and retain customers is by offering a Triple-Play package, which bundles all of their services – Internet, cable, and phone – onto one single line into a customer’s site. This cuts down on possible maintenance issues, as there is far less equipment required to manage all of the connections. One thing that many companies are offering now is cloud computing. What cloud computing does is offer many things from a computer server instead of your PC, like e-mail and secure backups.