TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Re: Data Communication Versus Telecommunications

Re: Data Communication Versus Telecommunications

Tom Niesen (tjniesen@hotmail.com)
1 Dec 2004 08:13:55 -0800

I guess I'm a 'data boy', but also 'phone boy'. Not that it matters to
me but in my group we consider telecommunitcations to refer to the
installation, use, service, and maintenance of telephones, systems,
infrastructure, and related products. Data-com is refered to computer
communications end of the field.

Tom

Al Gillis <alg@aracnet.com> wrote in message
news:<telecom23.574.4@telecom-digest.org>:

> Justin Time <a_user2000@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:telecom23.573.12@telecom-digest.org:

>> jrefactors@hotmail.com (Matt) wrote in message
>> news:<telecom23.572.7@telecom-digest.org>:

>>> When people say telecommunications, it implies data communications,
>>> correct? I want to know if data communication and telecommunications
>>> usually are used interchangably.

>>> Please advise. thanks!!

>>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In the Usenet hierarchy, 'telecom' is
>>> one of the sub-groups under the larger category 'dcom'. I would say
>>> the two terms are mostly interchangeable, but data communications
>>> does include a lot more than just voice. PAT]

>> The meaning would have to depend on the context. The more general
>> term is telecommunications, having two major divisions, voice and
>> data. The reason telecom -- voice is a sub-group of dcom -- data
>> communications on the Internet newsgroups is due to the original focus
>> of the Internet, computer-to-computer communications. As far as the
>> history goes, data communications in the form of telegraphy pre-dates
>> telephony or voice communications. My understanding of the word
>> telecommunications is that it encompasses every form of communication
>> that was carried by wire (before the age of wireless.)

>> Rodgers Platt

> My views follow the logic expressed by Rodgers Platt ... I construe
> "Telecommunications" as electronic communications (or maybe even just
> electrical communications) of which there are a bunch of flavors:
> voice, data (either the old 1BM kind of data communications or the
> newer IP kind, made popular by Cisco, 3Com and that ilk), video (as in
> Video conferencing or even television) and possibly even Morse code!

> I've noticed that recently the "Data Boys" seem to think Telecom
> refers to voice-related communications. I think that's because they
> know little of the history of this art/science and they don't know the
> etymology of the word telecommunications.

> Per the Encyclopedia Britannica:

> Telecommunications: The science and practice of transmitting
> information by electromagnetic means. A wide variety of information
> can be transferred through a telecommunications system, including
> voice and music, still-frame ...

> So there!

> Al

Post Followup Article Use your browser's quoting feature to quote article into reply
Go to Next message: T. Sean Weintz: "Re: Trial Shows How Spammers Operate"
Go to Previous message: Ringo Langly: "Re: Dropping SBC For a VoIP Solution -- Vonage or Packet8 ??"
May be in reply to: Matt: "Data Communication Versus Telecommunications"
TELECOM Digest: Home Page