Satellite Application Processing Round
US: The FCC generally
considers applications for satellite systems that will operate in the same
frequency bands in discrete processing rounds to ensure that all potentially
competing applications are considered concurrently. These processing rounds
are established by Public Notices announcing a 'cut-off date' for filing applications
to be considered in the round.
Satellite Master Antenna Television
Services (SMATV)
US: A TV program
distribution service that employs a centralized receive-only satellite earth
station to receive television signals for distribution to subscribers. SMATV
systems do not use public rights-of-way, which allows them to operate without
being subject to franchise requirements. Historically, SMATV systems generally
served commonly-owned multiple dwelling units such as apartments or
condominiums, commercial establishments such as hotels, institutions such
as hospitals, or groups of buildings in close proximity such as universities
or resort facilities. More recently, some systems have been using microwave
transmissions links from the centralized earth station to serve multiple buildings
that are not commonly-owned. The Telecommunications
Act of 1996 Act eased statutory restrictions on SMATV operators, permitting
them to use wires to connect separately-owned buildings, provided they do
not use public rights-of-way.
Schools And Libraries Corporation
Selective Retry for dialing 911
US: A method of dialing
the emergency telephone number 911
from an analogue wireless telephone. The handset employs a separate 911
button. When the button is pushed the handset attempts to complete the call
using the user's preferred carrier. If that is not possible the user pushes the button
again and the handset attempts to complete the call using another carrier.
Service Portability
US: The ability of
end users of telecommunications services to retain existing telecommunications
numbers without impairment of quality, reliability, or convenience when switching
from one telecommunications service to another service provided by the same
telecommunications carrier. The FCC currently
places no requirements on telecommunications carriers to provide service portability.
(See also Location Portability, Number
Portability, and Number Transferability)
Serving Wire Center (SWC)
US: The name applied
to an incumbent LEC's central (switching)
office designated by the LEC to serve the geographic area in which an interexchange
(long distance) carrier's point
of presence (POP) or other carrier's
point of demarcation is located. serving wire centers (also called wire centers)
are merely points of demarcation in the incumbent LEC's network and are not
points at which traffic is switched.
Settlement Rate
A settlement rate
is each carrier's portion of an international
accounting
rate. The accounting rate is the price a facilities-based telecommunications
carrier negotiates with a foreign carrier for handling one minute of
international telephone service, intended to allow each carrier to recover
the costs it incurs for terminating an incoming international call on its
domestic telephone network. In almost all cases, the settlement rate is
equal to one-half of the negotiated accounting rate. At settlement, each
carrier nets the minutes of service it originated against the minutes the
other carrier originated. The carrier that originated more minutes of service
pays the other carrier a net settlement payment calculated by multiplying
the settlement rate by the number of imbalanced traffic minutes. In the
United States, every carrier is required to file a copy of its settlement
agreements with the FCC.
Settlement Rate Benchmarks
US: Specific settlement
rate levels, designated by the FCC to take effect beginning January 1, 1998,
that US licensed carriers are required to negotiate with foreign operators
by specified deadlines. If a carrier fails to negotiate the designated benchmark
rate by the specified deadline, the FCC is prepared to 'direct' the carrier
to pay no more than the benchmark to the operator in the country in question.
The specific per minute Settlement Rate Benchmarks that must be negotiated
are as follows:
$0.15 with operators from
upper income countries by Jan. 1, 1999;
$0.19 " upper-middle income countries
by Jan. 1, 2000;
$0.19 " lower-middle income countries
by Jan. 1, 2001;
$0.23 " lower income countries by Jan.
1, 2002;
$0.23 " countries w/ less that 1 line
per 100 population by Jan. 1, 2003.
[see also settlement
rate]
Signaling system seven (SS7)
SS7 is a network protocol
used to transmit signaling information over common channel signaling networks.
Signaling networks like SS7 establish and close transmission paths over which
telephone calls are carried, retrieve information from remote data bases to
enable credit card and collect calling, and transmit information needed to
provide custom local area signaling services
like automatic call back.
An SS7 network consists of several primary components
-- signaling points, signal transport links, and dedicated lines used for access
to an incumbent local exchange carrier's (LEC's)
signaling network (signal links). Signaling points are nodes in an SS7 network
that originate, transmit, or route signaling messages. There are three principal
types of signaling points: service switching points (SSPs), service control
points (SCPs), and signaling transfer points (STPs). An SSP is a switch that
can originate, transmit, and receive messages for call setup and database transactions.
An SCP serves as a database that stores and provides information used in the
routing of calls, such as the line information database (LIDB) used to validate
calling cards or the database that identifies the designated long-distance carrier
for toll-free service. An STP is a specialized packet switch that performs screening
and security functions and switches SS7 messages within the signaling network.
Dedicated network access lines (DNALs) consist of dedicated circuits that transmit
queries between the incumbent LEC's signaling network and the signaling networks
of other individual carriers, such as iunterexchange carriers (IXCs).
Signaling and Call-Related Databases
Slamming
'Slamming'' is the
term applied to unauthorized changes to a telephone subscriber's 'primary
interexchange carrier' (PIC). The PIC
is the interexchange carrier selected
by a telephone subscriber as the primary long distance company whose network
is directly accessed by the subscriber when dialing "1" plus the area
code and telephone number of the called party. The subscriber is said
to have been 'slammed' when a third party, usually a competing interexchange
carrier seeking the subscriber's long distance business, informs the subscriber's
local
exchange carrier to change the subscriber's PIC without authorization
from the subscriber. [See also Cramming.]
Spamming
Spamming is the term
applied to the flooding of a recipient's electronic mail system with
unsolicited e-mail.
Software Defined Radio(SDR)
US: A
technology that enables radio devices to be reprogrammed quickly to transmit
and receive on a wide range of frequencies using virtually any transmission
format. A software defined radio could, for example, transmit and receive
in the various cellular and PCS frequency bands and use transmission standards
of different countries around the world. Functions that were formerly carried
out solely in hardware, such as the generation of the transmitted radio signal
and the tuning and detection of the received radio signal, are performed by
software residing in high-speed digital signal processors. Software defined
radios are also capable of employing advanced interference rejection techniques,
thereby improving frequency utilization. The FCC began an inquiry into SDR
in March 2000 (see ET Docket 00-47, FCC 00-103).
Specialized Mobile Radio Service (SMR)
US: Mobile radio
services used primarily for voice communications, and for data and facsimile
services. The development of digital SMR technology is also allowing new features
and services such as two-way acknowledgment paging and inventory tracking,
credit and authorization, automatic vehicle location, fleet management, remote
database access, and voice mail. SMR operates in two distinct sets of frequencies
(800 MHz and 900 MHz bands) whose differing channel bandwidths render radio
equipment used for one incompatible with the other. SMR services interconnected
to the PSTN are one of a number of commercial
mobile radio services (CMRS).
SMR service was first established by the FCC
in 1979 to provide land mobile communications on a commercial (i.e., for profit)
basis. A traditional SMR system consists of one or more base station transmitters,
one or more antennas, and end user mobile radio equipment. End users may operate
in either an 'interconnected' mode, which allows the routing of messages over
the PSTN, or the 'dispatch' mode, which allows two-way, over the air, voice
communications between two or more mobile units (e.g., between a car and a truck)
or between mobile and fixed units (e.g., between the end user's office and a
truck). (see also C.F.R § 90.7)
Spectrum
The range of wavelengths
or frequencies of electromagnetic radiation, including radio waves and visible
light. Electric and magnetic fields produce waves that move through space
at different frequencies, defined as the number of times that a wave's peak
passes a fixed point in a specific period of time. The set of all possible
frequencies is called the 'electromagnetic spectrum.' The subset of frequencies
from 3,000 cycles per second (3 kilohertz (kHz)) to 300 billion cycles per
second (300 gigahertz (GHz)) is called the 'radio spectrum.' Familiar radio
spectrum services are AM radio (535 kHz to 1,705 kHz), FM radio (88 MHz
to 108 MHz), television (various allocations between 54 MHz to 806 MHz),
and cellular phones (806 MHz to 890 MHz). Frequencies in the radio spectrum
are divided between federal and nonfederal use. The National Telecommunications
and Information Administration manages the federal spectrum, allocating
and assigning licenses to federal users. The FCC manages the nonfederal
portion of the spectrum. (Source: Where Do We Go From Here? The FCC Auctions
and the Future of Radio Spectrum Management, Congressional Budget Office,
Congress of the United States (April 1997) pp. 2-4.)
Spectrum Cap
US: The maximum
amount of wireless spectrum that can be licensed to a single entity in a particular
geographic area. The spectrum cap was set by the FCC as a means of promoting
wireless competition and it applied to all Commercial Mobile Radio Services (CMRS), which includes
broadband Personal Communications Services (PCS),
cellular, and Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR). The cap was set at 45 MHz; 55
MHz in rural service areas. However, in November 2001 (see US
Rep 30, IV.A) the FCC decided to raise the cap to 55 MHz in all
markets immediately and to sunset (eliminate) the spectrum cap entirely on
January 1, 2003. The FCC replaced the inflexible spectrum cap with a case-by-case
review of transactions involving transfers of control and aggregation of wireless
spectrum in recognition of increased wireless competition.
Spectrum Disaggregation
US: A practice permitted
by FCC rules in which the holder of a spectrum license for the provision of
wireless services in a given geographic area may assign, or transfer, discrete
portions or 'blocks' of its assigned spectrum to another party. The FCC's
objective in permitting this practice is to encourage more efficient use of
spectrum by allowing licensees to transfer part of their spectrum to a party
that values it more highly and to promote competition by increasing the diversity
of service offerings and the number of providers offering competing services.
[See also Geographic Partitioning.]
Speech-to-Speech Relay Services
US: A telephone transmission
service designed to give persons with speech disabilities 'functionally equivalent'
access to the telephone network.
Known also as 'voice-access relay services,' speech-to-speech
services are a form of Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) that involve
the use of specially trained communications assistants (CAs) as relay 'voices.'
CAs
understand the speech of persons who communicate
with impaired speech or with the use of voice synthesizers, and can repeat the
words spoken to ensure that the callers are understood. Speech-to-speech services
can also benefit persons who have both speech disabilities and limited hand
use (e.g., persons with cerebral palsy). [See also Telecommunications
Relay Services (TRS); Video Relay Interpreting.]
Spread Spectrum Transmission
US:
A wireless data transmission technique in which the transmitted signal
is spread over a bandwidth wider than is required to carry the transmitted
information itself, providing greater immunity from interference and noise
than conventional transmission techniques and allowing more users to use the
same frequency. The transmitted signals are spread according to a predetermined
algorithm which each receiver must know in order to restore the original signal
for proper interpretation.
Study Area
US: A "study area"
is usually an incumbent local exchange carrier's
(ILEC's) existing service area in a given state. The study area boundaries
are fixed by the FCC as of November 15, 1984. The definition of a study area
is significant, e.g., for the FCC's 'jurisdictional
separations' rules under Part 36 of the Code Federal Regulations, because
ILECs calculate their costs and perform jurisdictional separations at the
study area level.
Subloop
US: An unbundled network element (UNE) that incumbent local
exchange carriers (ILECs) are required by FCC rules under the '96
Act to provide individually, or in combination with other UNEs, to new entrants
seeking to provide competitive local telephone service. Local loops are the
subscriber lines running from the customer premises to the local switch of
the ILEC; subloops are portions of the local loop made available to new entrants
at any accessible point.
Subscriber Drop
US: A cable connecting
the premises of a cable TV subscriber to the cable distribution network via
a 'tap' located on or near a distribution pole in the subscriber's neighborhood.
Subscriber Line Charge (SLC)
US: A
flat per-month interstate access charge assessed by incumbent
local exchange carriers (LECs) on end users to recoup part or all of the
local telephone loop costs allocated to the interstate jurisdiction. Prior
to its May 1997 Orders on universal service
and access charge reform, the SLC could not exceed the lesser of the actual
interstate loop cost, or $6 per month for multi-line business customers and
$3.50 for residential and single-line business customers. In its May 1997
Orders, however, the FCC froze the SLC cap for primary residential and single-line
business lines at $3.50 per month, but increased the cap for additional residential
lines as well as for multi-line business customers. The FCC reformed its access
charge rules again in May 2000 (see
US Rep 21, II.B.), requiring a larger proportion of the cost of the local
loop to be recovered through the SLC, increasing the charge gradually to $6.50
by July 1, 2003 for primary residential lines and single line business customers,
if the ILEC can justify the increase.
SLC
is also referred to as end user common line charge (EUCL). [See also Access
Charges, Carrier Common Line Charge,
Presubscribed
Interexchange Carrier Charge]
Subscriber List Information
US: As used in
the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the term
'subscriber list information' means any information: (1) identifying the listed
names of subscribers of a [telephone] carrier
and such subscribers' telephone numbers, addresses, or primary advertising
classifications (as such classifications are assigned at the time of the establishment
of such service), or any combination of such listed names, numbers, addresses,
or classifications; and (2) that the carrier or an affiliate
has published, caused to be published, or accepted for publication in any
directory format. [See also CI '96 Act Reference VII(702)(222)(f)(3)]
Subscriber Loop
US: "Subscriber loops"
or "loops" are the connection between the telephone company's central office
and the customer's premises. In its Local Competition Order implementing the
interconnection requirements of the '96 Act , the FCC defined the loop, for
unbundling purposes, as "a transmission facility between a distribution frame,
or its equivalent, in an incumbent local exchange
carrier (ILEC) central office, and the
network interface device at the customer premises."
Systems Integrators
US: Systems integrators
provide integrated packages of services and products that may include the
provision of computer capabilities, inter-state telecommunications services,
remote data processing services, back-office data processing, management of
customer relationships with underlying carriers and vendors, provision of
telecommunications and computer equipment, equipment maintenance, help desk
functions, and other services and products. Systems integrators are non-facilities-based,
non-common carriers. (Source: Ad Hoc Telecommunications Users Committee)
Switched Hubbing
US: Switched Hubbing
refers to the routing of U.S. switched traffic over U.S. international private
lines, whether resold or facilities-based, that terminate in equivalent countries
(under the FCC's Effective Competitive Opportunities, or ECO, test) and then
forwarding that traffic to a third, non-equivalent country by taking at published
rates and reselling the international service of a carriers in the equivalent
country. FCC rules permit Switched Hubbing.