Tutorials and articles from Teracom Training Institute. Bringing you the best in telecom training and certification since 1992.
On top of the sixteen courses included in the CTA Certification Package,
Course L2241 Introduction to Broadband Converged IP Telecom, and
Course L2221 Introduction to Voice over IP
are now included as free bonus courses with CTA.
Follow these instructions to add the two bonus courses to your dashboard at no charge after purchasing CTA.
In-Person January 17-21, Live Online January 24-28
Relatively new to telecom? Frustrated with all the jargon and buzzwords? Grab this opportunity to get the training you need!
Join thousands of satisfied non-engineering professionals! Bust the buzzwords, demystify the jargon and understand today’s converged broadband IP telecommunications, the technologies and services, the underlying ideas, and how it all fits together.
Stay focused, engaged and learn with a professional instructor.
Eliminate lack-of-knowledge embarrassment. Be more confident with a solid base of telecommunications knowledge you can build on, from fundamentals to IoT and everything between.
Specifically designed for non-engineers, Teracom’s renowned telecommunications training is organized into two courses back-to-back to make a full week called BOOT CAMP:
Course 101: Broadband, Telecom, Datacom and Networking for Non-Engineers, then
Course 130: Voice over IP, SIP, Security, 5G and IoT.
This is an easy sell with management. Your increase in productivity and accuracy will over time far outweigh the cost of a week’s training. Plus, you get bonus online courses and certification, and high quality printed course books.
Here’s a cut-and-paste training request template to submit for approval.
Here’s a sampling of student evaluations from recent classes:
“Awesome course, really. Just very, very good.”
– Tim Wilson, Ciena
“Thank you guys so much, this class was amazing! I would take this all over again!”
– Austin Thompson, NHC
“Since I am very new to telecom, this helped me connect the dots, the different layers and terminology. I liked that it followed the printed workbooks very closely so I could read the summaries after the lessons. The instructor was great. He kept it light, added some jokes to keep it entertaining. I liked most when he did drawings with his explanations.”
– Ashley Brinkman, Marketing Manager, MTA, Palmer Alaska
“The course was very beneficial for me. I wish I would have been able to take this class a few years back when I first started!”
– Tamara Pepin, CRTC
“I had some of the basics; this class filled gaps and added much more depth. Instructor Richard was open to questions at any time, and revisited topics until we got it. Having the notes in the printed course book to follow along and add to was very helpful. Richard was very passionate about the course material and had great real-life examples.”
– Robert Smieszny, NHC
“Richard is an excellent instructor. He has unmatched knowledge on the subject! He does a fantastic job interacting as if we are physically in a classroom with him!”
– Daniel Herfel, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Extracted from Chapter 9 of the Telecom 101 reference book.
Note: acronyms and abbreviations used below are explained in lessons leading up to this one.
9.7 Mobile Operators, MVNOs and Roaming
9.7.1 Mobile Network Operator
Mobile Network Operator (MNO) is the term usually used to refer to a facilities-based carrier, i.e. a company that owns base stations, a mobile switch, backhaul between them, and spectrum licenses, and sells services to the public… and to other carriers.
The MNO implements external links to other carriers for PSTN phone calls and for Internet traffic.
For PSTN phone calls, the MNO implements a fiber optic connection to a building traditionally called a Toll Center or Class 4 switching office. The termination of their fiber in that building is called a POP. It is their physical point of presence in the building.
Many other carriers have POPs in the building, including the ILEC, IXCs, CATV companies, other mobile carriers, and any other company that wants to connect phone calls to a phone on the MNO’s network.
The operator of the toll center, usually the ILEC, provides a switch in the Toll Center to switch phone calls from one carrier’s POP to a different carrier’s POP.
For Internet access, the MNO implements a fiber optic connection to one or more Internet Exchange buildings, where they pay the operator of the IX to route packets to other carriers with whom the MNO has established IP packet transit and peering arrangements.
9.7.2 Mobile Virtual Network Operator
Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) is the term used to refer to a non-facilities-based carrier… one that does not own the hardware or spectrum licenses or POPs.
Instead, the MVNO enters into a long-term contract with one or more facilities-based carriers to have them supply a “white label” service that the MVNO sells.
Typically the MVNO will develop a unique branding and sell smartphones and tablets to go along with its service.
When the MVNO deals exclusively with one carrier, the MVNO bill to the customer would be typically generated by the facilities-based carrier as a white-label service.
If the MVNO is very large and deals with multiple carriers, the MVNO may operate their own billing system, which is a significant investment.
The facilities-based carrier charges to the MVNO includes a volume-discount rate for IP addresses and Internet traffic, voice-minute airtime and switched access to the POP for PSTN phone calls.
The MVNO also has to pay for connectivity from the POP to other toll centers for “long-distance” connections, and the switched-access charge at the far end.
The rate plan the MVNO pays could be a mix of fixed-rate leases and usage-based billing.
Unless the MNO is obliged to sell capacity to MVNOs through regulations and tariffs, the nature of the plan is confidential business information.
9.7.3 Roaming
Roaming service is very similar to the service provided to MVNOs, in that it is the MNO that is providing the airlink, base stations, backhaul, mobile switch and connections to the PSTN and Internet.
In the case of roaming, the visitor uses their own phone, and billing is usage-based.
Roaming is an important feature for smaller players: they are facilities-based in selected cities, but to offer a national and international service to their customers, they must have roaming agreements in place with MNOs in other locations.
By denying roaming service to smaller or startup carriers, or charging an exorbitant price for roaming, an incumbent carrier can erect a barrier against competition.
In many countries, the right to roam and the wholesale cost of roaming is regulated to encourage competition.
These topics are covered in:
The CTNS Study Guide corresponds exactly to the CTNS courses, with detailed notes plus knowledge objectives and summaries for every lesson.
Now available in a beautiful high-quality hardcover edition, a pleasure to hold, plus the traditional more compact softcover format.
Softcover is in stock and ships right away.
Note: Hardcovers are printed one at a time, just for you, adding 15 days to delivery time. The quality of the cover and binding is worth the wait!
Of course the eBook version is also available through our online partners.
Let us know you plan to attend by creating your registration.
Register today!
BOOT CAMP is Course 101 and 130 back-to-back to make a whole week, packaged with a discount as Course 111. Career- and productivity-enhancing training, two course books with detailed notes, printed in color, totaling over 600 pages, plus bonus CTNS, CVA and CTA Certification Packages, for only $1895 Live Online (regular $2495 In-Person).
Course 2214 MPLS and Carrier Networks
Lesson 7 TCP/IP over MPLS
Carrier Packet Networks • Technologies • MPLS • MPLS VPNs • SLAs • CoS • Integration & Aggregation
MPLS and Carrier Networks is a comprehensive training course designed to build a solid understanding of carrier packet networks and services, the terminology, technologies, configuration, operation and most importantly, the underlying ideas… in plain English.
In this free online network training course lesson, we’ll trace the flow of a file transfer over an MPLS network, seeing how TCP is used for error recovery, IP is used for addressing the destination, MAC addresses indicate the next device, and MPLS labels implement a virtual circuit for communications within the carrier IP network.
We’ll follow a file download through all the protocols, identifying each step and the equipment that implements it. To conclude, we’ll see how MPLS can be used to move MAC frames instead of the usual IP packets for a service called Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS), also known as Carrier Ethernet.
This course is available on its own, and is included in the CTNS Certification Package, the CTA Certification Package, the CIPTS Certification Package and the CTSME Certification Package.
Click here to watch this lesson for free in full quality with our compliments.
Carrier Packet Networks • Technologies • MPLS • MPLS VPNs • SLAs • CoS • Integration & Aggregation
MPLS and Carrier Networks is a comprehensive training course designed to build a solid understanding of carrier packet networks and services, the terminology, technologies, configuration, operation and most importantly, the underlying ideas… in plain English.
We’ll cut through the buzzwords and marketing to demystify carrier packet networks and services, explaining Service Level Agreements, traffic profiles, virtual circuits, QoS, Class of Service, Differentiated Services, integration, convergence and aggregation, MPLS and other network technologies, and how they relate to TCP/IP, without bogging down on details.
Course Lessons
1. Introduction
2. Carrier Packet Network Basics
3. Service Level Agreements
4. Virtual Circuits
5. QoS Requirement for Voice over IP
6. MPLS
7. TCP/IP over MPLS
8. Differentiated Classes of Service using MPLS
9. Integration and Convergence using MPLS
10. Managing Aggregates of Traffic with MPLS Label Stacking
11. MPLS Services vs. Internet Service
Click or tap to watch the lesson in full quality
Based on Teracom’s famous Course 101, tuned and refined over the course of over 25 years of instructor-led training, you will gain career- and productivity-enhancing knowledge of the structure, components and operation of carrier packet networks and services, how they are implemented, packaged and marketed by carriers and how they are used by government, business… and other carriers.
Let us know you plan to attend by creating your registration.
BOOT CAMP is Course 101 and Course 130 back-to-back to make a whole week, packaged with a discount as Course 111.
Career- and productivity-enhancing training, two course books with detailed notes, printed in color, totaling over 600 pages, plus bonus CTNS, CVA and CTA Certification Packages, for only $1895 Live Online (regular $2495 In-Person).
Group discounts are also available.
Plus, You will also get immediate access to the included TCO Certification Packages: CTNS, CTA and CVA and their twenty-five full-length online courses, with no time limits and unlimited repeats.
Free Lesson!
Course 2213 – IP Addresses, Packets and Routers
Lesson 9: Network Address Translation (NAT)
This lesson explains the standard practice of assigning private IP addresses to machines inside the building, and getting a single public IP address from the ISP providing the Internet access. Everyone in the building shares the single public IP address via Network Address Translation. This lesson explains how NAT works.
This free online network training course lesson is in both the CTNS Certification Package and the CTA Certification Package.
Click here to watch for free now!
Course 2213 IP Networks, Routers and Addresses
IP Addresses • Packets • Networks • Routers • Static and Dynamic Addresses • DHCP • Public and Private Addresses • NAT • IPv6
IP Networks, Routers and Addresses is a comprehensive course on IP networking fundamentals: IP packets, IP addressing and IP routers.
We’ll see how routers implement the network with packet-switching, that is, relaying packets from one circuit to another, and how routers are a point of control for network security. We’ll introduce the term Customer Edge (CE), and understand the basic structure and content of a routing table.
Then we’ll cover the many aspects of IP addressing: IPv4 address classes, dotted decimal, static vs. dynamic addresses, DHCP, public vs. private addresses, Network Address Translation, and finish with an overview of IPv6.
Course Lessons
1. Introduction
2. Review: Channelized Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM)
3. Statistical Time-Division Multiplexing: Bandwidth-on-Demand
4. Network: Bandwidth on Demand + Routing
5. Routers
6. IPv4 Addresses
7. DHCP
8. Public and Private IPv4 Addresses
9. Network Address Translation
10. IPv6 Overview
11. IPv6 Address Allocations and Assignment
Based on Teracom’s famous Course 101, tuned and refined over the course of 20 years of instructor-led training, we’ll cut through the jargon to clearly explain IP and routers, packets and addresses, the underlying ideas, and how it all works together… in plain English.
Mini-Tutorial: Press 1 to understand how modems work
This is a recording of a call to a number with an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) behind it. You call this number to learn how modems work.
Listen to the audio.
Although the caller presses the wrong button, it nonetheless reveals how modems work: using tones to communicate the binary numbers 1 and 0.