Glossary
Sometimes all you need is someone to explain what it means.
| Term | Definintion |
|---|---|
| Access Seeker | A customer requiring NBN Co wholesale services with the intention to supply internet services to Retail Service Providers (RSPs) or end-users. |
| ADSL | Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line - A technology for using copper phone line to deliver high-speed data transmission with different downstream (network to user) and upstream (user to network) bandwidth allocations. |
| AUP | Acceptable Usage Policy - An agreement between us (Kinetix) and our customers on how they will make use of the services that we offer. |
| AVC | Access Virtual Circuit - The virtual reference of the bandwidth allocated to the end-user premises. |
| B2B | Business-to-Business - Commercial transactions between businesses. |
| CIR | Committed Information Rate - The amount of bandwidth guaranteed to be provided to the end-users. The additional bandwidth of a speed plan may come from an allocation shared with other subscribers. |
| CSA | Connectivity Serving Area - A logical collection of end-user premises defined by NBN Co, with having approximately the same number of end-user premises. |
| CVC | Connectivity Virtual Circuit - A aggregation of the Access Virtual Circuits (AVCs) from the end-user premises back to the Point of Interconnect (POI), determining the capacity required to serve each Connectivity Serving Area (CSA). |
| DSL | Digital Subscriber Line - A family of technologies that deliver high-speed data transmission over a copper phone line. |
| DSLAM | Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexers - Network devices with ports to connect end-user copper lines for Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) broadband services. Normally located in telephone exchanges. |
| EFS | Ethernet Fanout Switch - An Ethernet switch that provides Point of Interconnect (PoI) for Retail Service Providers (RSPs) and/or Wholesale Service Providers (WSPs) to deliver telecommunication services to end-users on NBN Co's network. |
| End-users | The final customer requesting and using the internet service provided by NBN Co's Access Seekers and/or Retail Service Providers (RSPs). |
| Ethernet | A frame-based transport protocol for forwarding traffic across Local Area Networks (LANs). |
| Enterprise Ethernet | An Ethernet technology utilising optic fibre to connect locations together, or to the internet. |
| FTTB | Fibre To The Building - A technology utilising optic fibre to connect a large building, and then relying on legacy copper lines for each internal premises. |
| FTTC | Fibre To The Curb - A technology utilising optic fibre to the street, and then relying on legacy copper lines to connect a handful of premises. |
| FTTN | Fibre To The Node - A technology utilising optic fibre to a local node, and then legacy copper lines into multiple premises. |
| FTTP | Fibre To The Premises - A technology utilising optic fibre all the way to each premises. |
| HFC | Hybrid-Fibre Coaxial - A technology utilising both optical fibre and coaxial cable to make a network for the delivery of Pay TV, internet and voice services. |
| IP | Internet Protocol - The international standard by which data is transmitted between networks (packet data protocol by which data is routed between devices and networks). |
| LAN | Local Area Network - A network that connects computers and devices in a limited geographical area, such as a single home or office building. |
| NBN | National Broadband Network - The network to connect Australia with modern broadband internet. |
| nbn™ | The trade-marked name for the actual network being rolled out by NBN Co to complete the National Broadband Network. |
| NBN Co | National Broadband Network Company Limited - The legal entity of National Broadband Network Company Limited. |
| NNI | Network-to-Network Interface - The port at NBN Co's POint of Interconnect (PoI) where Access Seekers connect their internet transmission backhaul. |
| NTD | Network Termination Device - NBN Co's termination point for residential fibre services at each premises, typically featuring four Ethernet and two telephone ports. Previously referred to as the Network Termination Unit (NTU). |
| NTU | Network Termination Unit - See: Network Termination Device (NTD) |
| PIR | Peak Information Rate - The theoretical speed that an end-user could receive if there were no other end-users using at the same time. PIR is limited by the transfer-rate capability of the the physical port. |
| POI | Point Of Interconnect - The connection point that allows Retail Service Providers (RSPs) and Wholesale Service Providers (WSPs) to connect to the NBN Co access capability. This is the physical port on the Ethernet Fanout Switch (EFS) located at each POI where an Access Seeker connects to establish exchange of traffic. |
| PSU | Power Supply Unit - A component which provides power to a device, whether in-built or external. |
| QoS | Quality of Service - The resource reservation control mechanisms rather than the achieved service quality - it is the ability to provide different priority to different applications, users, or data-flows, or to guarantee a certain level of performance to a data-flow. |
| RF | Radio Frequency - The frequency of electric signals used to produce and detect radio waves. |
| RSP | Retail Service Provider(s) - Companies that sell retail internet services to end-users, based on the nbn™ wholesale broadband access network. |
| SRA | Seamless Rate Adaptation - Allows modems to make seamlessly change the data transfer rate to avoid dropping a connection. |
| ULLS | Unconditioned Local Loop Service - A regulated product allowing Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to rent a physical copper line between a customer and a local exchange. When connected to an ISP's Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM) it acts as the platform for delivery of internet and voice services. |
| UNI | User Network Interface - The physical port on the Network Termination Device (NTD) provided by NBN Co which connects the gateway or Ethernet-enabled device to the NBN. |
| VoIP | Voice over Internet Protocol - A method of making voice and video calls over a data service, usually the internet. |
| WAN | Wide Area Network - A network connecting computers and devices in a large geographical area, like across regional or metropolitan boundaries. |
| WSP | Wholesale Service Provider - A provider of wholesale services to Retail Service Providers (RSPs). |