Telecom 101: Fifth Edition 2020 now available on Apple Books

Packed with information, authoritative, covering all major topics – and written in plain English – Telecom 101 is also an invaluable textbook and day-to-day reference on telecom.

Completely updated and revised for the 2020s, the new Fifth Edition of Telecom 101 is the materials from the latest version of Teracom’s famous Course 101 Broadband, Telecom, Datacom and Networking for Non-Engineers, plus additional topics and chapters.

In a user-friendly 7 x 9″ softcover version, printed in color, or in eBook format, Telecom 101 brings you in one volume consistency, completeness and unbeatable value.

Telecom 101 also serves as a study guide for the Telecommunications Certification Organization TCO Certified Telecommunications Analyst (CTA) telecommunications certification, covering all material required for the CTA Certification Exam except the security module.

Our approach can be summed up with a simple philosophy: Start at the beginning. Progress in a logical order. Build one concept on top of another. Finish at the end. Avoid jargon. Speak in plain English. Bust the buzzwords, demystify jargon, and cut through doubletalk!

Fill gaps and build a solid base of structured knowledge. Understand how everything fits together. … knowledge and understanding that lasts a lifetime.

Ideal for anyone needing a book covering all major topics in telecom, data communications, IP and networking … in plain English.

A wealth of clear, concise, organized knowledge, impossible to find in one place anywhere else!

High-Quality Reference Book and Study Guide Covering All Major Telecommunications Topics… in Plain English.
7″ x 9″ softcover book • printed in color • 550 pages • 5th edition • published 2020

ISBN 9781894887588 (print) ISBN 9781894887595 (eBook)

Free previews available on Google Play, Amazon and Apple Books.
Order from:

Telecom 101 eBook on Apple Books
Telecom 101 eBook on Google Play
Telecom 101 eBook on Amazon kindle
printed book

Boot Camp Live Online – Jan 25-29, 2021

A Full Week of Telecom Training for Non‑Engineers

Broadband, Telecom, Datacom, and Networking
VoIP, SIP, Security, 5G and IoT

Telecom BOOT CAMP covers the whole telecom and networking picture from fundamentals to future trends.

Major update for 2020! 5G, broadband, cloud, data centers, web services, IoT and much more!

Get up to speed on today’s telecom technologies. Fill the gaps. Demystify the jargon and build a solid knowledge base.
TCO CTNS, CVA and CTA Certifications included.

Five days of career- and productivity-enhancing training, with three TCO Certifications. You get two detailed reference books printed in color and 15 bonus online courses to refresh your knowledge any time after. Value priced at $1895.

This is the 5-day BOOT CAMP that hundreds of people have rated “excellent” across the board on evaluations over the years!

Sign up early to receive immediate access to the online certifications and to receive your workbooks in advance of the course.

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Tutorial: Optical Ethernet

From the new textbook Telecom 101 Fifth Edition: 2020

SFP optical transceivers

Figure 111. SFP Optical Transceivers

10.5 Optical Ethernet

Optical Ethernet is signaling MAC frames (Section 4.4) from one device to another by flashing a light on and off; light on represents a 1 and light off represents a 0 in many systems.

The light, called a wavelength or lamda – λ in Greek – is as close to one single pure frequency as possible, in the infra-red, lower frequencies than what our eyes detect.

In sophisticated systems, the wavelength might be modulated with QAM (Section 3.4) to increase the bit rate.

Normally, Optical Ethernet is implemented as point-to-point connections: from a hardware port on one switch or router to a hardware port on another switch or router in a different building. This includes connections between core routers in cities, connections between routers and switches within a city, and connections from carriers to customers.

10.5.1 SFP Modules and Connectors

The light is generated by a laser controlled by pulses of electricity at the transmitter.  The intensity and sometimes phase of the light is modulated, i.e. changed in discrete steps, to represent bits optically based on the pulses of electricity. Up to 80 km (50 miles) away at the other end of a tube of glass thinner than one of your hairs, a photodetector at the receiver measures the received light and decides what bits are being represented, and transmits them onward as pulses of electricity.

As illustrated in Figure 111, most systems use two fibers, one for each direction. A device combining the transmitter and detector functions is called an optical transceiver.

This device has metal connectors on one side to plug into a slot on a router or switch, and optical connectors on the other side, either factory- or field-installed on the fibers plugged into the transceiver.

These transceivers are typically implemented as Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP) modules, which are hot-swappable in the terminating equipment at each end.

100 Gb/s being communicated through this transceiver is the high end of commercially-deployed technology in 2020.

In some cases, the SFP modules are embedded in the terminating equipment, meaning the fibers are plugged into the terminating equipment. This allows re-use of existing fiber. In other cases, the SFP modules are attached to fiber cables by the fiber cable manufacturer, meaning the SFP module is plugged into the terminating equipment. This ensures the fiber and transceiver technology are matched and the optical connection is a high-quality “factory” connection.

The SFP module format is not the subject of a standard, but rather described in industry Multiple Sourcing Agreements (MSA).

10.5.3 IEEE Standards

There are many technologies for transceivers implemented in the SFP module. Some are proprietary; many are standardized by the IEEE. In practice, the same manufacturer’s product is used at both ends of the fiber to ensure compatibility. The table in Figure 112 lists current IEEE standards. More will be published in the future.

SFP optical transceivers

Figure 112. IEEE Optical Ethernet Standards

Most technologies use one fiber for each direction. Some, like for fiber to the home, use two wavelengths for two directions on one fiber. The bitrate of the standards beginning with 1000 is 1,000 Mb/s, or 1 Gb/s. A G at the beginning means Gigabits/second.  40 and 100 Gb/s technologies split the bitstream into subrates and transmit them in parallel on different wavelengths called paths or lanes.

The reach is the maximum length of fiber between devices.  Single-mode and multimode are designations for different qualities of fiber.  Most if not all builds today use single-mode fiber.

Source: Telecom 101 textbook / reference book, Fifth Edition: 2020 available in print and eBook.

Automatic CTNS Course Updates and Package Upgrades

In the constantly-evolving world of telecom, it is essential to keep training courses up to date.

The reason why so many people appreciate Teracom’s Online Courses and TCO Certification Packages is because they are based on Teracom’s instructor-led courses, with the selection of material, its order, timing and explanations tuned and refined in the classroom over the course of years, and constantly updated.

This also means that updates to instructor-led courses are subsequently reflected in online courses, keeping them up to date.

Following the major update to instructor-led Course 101 Broadband, Telecom, Datacom and Networking for Non-Engineers (Days 1 – 3 of BOOT CAMP) in 2020, updates to many online courses will be rolling out over the next months.

Certified Telecommunications Network Specialist (CTNS) is our most popular package of six online courses plus TCO Certification.

All six CTNS courses are being updated.  Update of Course 2201 The PSTN is complete.  A significant update to Course 2206 Wireless Telecommunications will be published in the next weeks.  Updates to the OSI Layers, Ethernet, IP and MPLS courses will follow.

All customers who have purchased the CTNS package, or any of the courses individually, will automatically receive the updates in their dashboard.

Stay tuned for an exciting announcement of an upgrade to the CTNS package, increasing the package from six courses to eight, with the inclusion of a brand new course #1 in the lineup “Introduction to Broadband Telecommunications” plus “Fundamentals of Voice over IP”.

The price of the CTNS package will increase when the number of courses increases from six to eight. Since all existing customers will automatically get the two new courses at no additional charge, you can beat the price increase by purchasing CTNS before the upgrade and get the two new courses, when they are released, for free!


Carpe diem!

Boot Camp Live Online Sept 21-25, 2020

Only 6 weeks away. Register today!

Specifically designed for non‑engineers, Teracom’s renowned telecommunications training is two courses back-to-back to make a full week called BOOT CAMP:

Core training Course 101: Broadband, Telecom, Datacom and Networking for Non‑Engineers Monday – Wednesday, then
Course 130: Voice over IP, SIP, Security, 5G and IoT Thursday and Friday.
You may register for individual courses or the full week as best meets your needs. Most people attend all five days, designated as Course 111 BOOT CAMP, to get the most comprehensive and highest quality telecommunications training available, at a discounted price, with three TCO Certifications included: CTNS, CVA and the prestigious TCO CTA Certification.

You will bust the buzzwords, understand the jargon and technologies, and most importantly, the underlying ideas, and how it all fits together …knowledge you can’t get on the job, talking to salespeople or reading articles.

Plus, you’ll get two printed course books with detailed notes bringing all of this material together and sure to be valuable references for years to come. With a total of 25 bonus online certification courses, plus 3 TCO Certification exams, both with unlimited repeats and no time limits.

Your knowledge skills, accuracy, productivity and buzzword-frustration level will all be improved with this career-enhancing training. What’s not to like?

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Certified Telecommunications Network Specialist – Free Preview

Do you need a foundation in telecommunications beginning from the ground up? The Certified Telecommunications Network Specialist, CTNS, is the place to begin. It lays a foundation on which all other telecommunications concepts are built.

Click here to watch the Lesson 1000 the Introduction to POTS and PSTN video.

The coursework for CTNS is a set of six high-quality online multimedia courses:
• 2201 POTS AND THE PSTN
• 2206 WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS
• 2212 THE OSI LAYERS AND PROTOCOL STACKS
• 2211 ETHERNET, LANS AND VLANS
• 2213 IP NETWORKS, ROUTERS AND ADDRESSES
• 2214 MPLS AND CARRIER NETWORKS

The CTNS Certification Package  includes the six CTNS Courses and CTNS Certification Exam, both with unlimited repeats – which means guaranteed to pass if you’re willing to do the work, and refresh your knowledge anytime.

Optional printed or eBook study guide available.

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Course 2222 VoIP Architectures and Implementations – Free Preview

CVA – Certified VOIP Analyst
Course 2222 VoIP Architectures and Implementations
Lesson 3 – VSPs: Internet to Phone e.g. Gmail Client

Enjoy this free preview from CVA – Certified VOIP Analyst

Course 2222 VoIP Architectures and Implementations
VoIP over the Internet • VoIP at Carriers • VoIP-Enabled PBX • PBX Replacement • Softswitches • Hosted PBX • Cloud Services • IP Centrex • Asterisk & Open-Source • SO/HO VoIP Phone Features

VoIP Architectures and Implementation Choices is a comprehensive overview of the many flavors of VoIP, comparing and contrasting the various implementation and architecture choices.

Progressing from talking between computers over the Internet through Internet telephony, Managed IP Telephony, PBX enhancement, PBX replacement with call manager / softswitch systems, IP Centrex, Hosted PBX and Cloud Services, you’ll gain the knowledge to confidently differentiate VoIP architectures and discuss pros and cons of options.

Click here to watch the video:

Course 2222 VoIP Architectures and Implementations

Course Lessons
1. Intro + Internet Telephony: Computer-Computer VoIP over the Internet
2. Internet Telephony Example: Skype
3. VSPs: Internet to Phone e.g. Gmail Client
4. VSP Phone to Phone over Internet e.g. Vonage
5. VoIP Becomes The New POTS
6. VoIP at Carriers
7. VoIP-Enabled PBX and Migration Options
8. Premise Softswitch: PBX Replacement
9. Cloud Services and Hosted PBX: Softswitch as a Service (SaaS)
10. IP Centrex
11. Asterisk and Open-Source Softswitch Software
12. IP Phone Features and Uses

Based on Teracom’s famous Course 130, tuned and refined over the course of over 20 years of instructor-led training, you will gain career- and productivity-enhancing knowledge of all of the different things someone could mean when they say “Voice over IP”, and the pros and cons of each.

This is just a small sample of the vast online telecommunication training and certification available through Teracom Training.

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CVA Unlimited Plan $459 
Six courses covering everything VoIP and SIP.

Check out the CTNS+CVA package deal $659.
The foundations of telecommunications plus everything VoIP and SIP.

Course 2232 Mobile Communications – Free Preview

TCO Certified Wireless Analyst
Course 2232 Mobile Communications
Lesson 1 Introduction to Mobile Network Components and Operations

Enjoy this free sample from CWA.

Wireless Fundamentals is the second course in the CWA Certification Package.

We begin with basic mobile network concepts and mobility terminology including base stations and transceivers, mobile switches and backhaul, handoffs and cellular radio concepts.
Then, we cover spectrum-sharing technologies and their variations: FDMA, TDMA, CDMA and OFDM, the generations of technology 1G, 2G, 3G and 4G, and the technologies GSM, 1X, UMTS, HSPA and LTE.
We’ll understand how mobile Internet access is implemented for a smartphone, and how you can keep kids quiet on car trips by turning your phone into a mobile WiFi base station.

Click here to watch the video:

Course 2232 Mobile Communications

Course Lessons
1. Mobile Network Components and Operation
2. Cellular
3. 1G: Analog Frequency-Division Multiple Access
4. Second Generation: Digital Cellular
5. Digital Cellular: Voice Communications
6. Internet Access via Cellular: “Data” Communications
7. 2G: TDMA (IS-136) Time-Division Multiple Access
8. 2G: TDMA (GSM) Time-Division Multiple Access
9. 2G: CDMA Code-Division Multiple Access
10. Spread Spectrum
11. CDMA Operation and Patents
12. 3G: CDMA 1X and UMTS
13. 4G: LTE
14. 4G: OFDM
15. Dynamic Assignment of Subcarriers
16. Spectrum-Sharing Roundup: FDMA, TDMA, CDMA, OFDM

This is just a small sample of the vast online telecommunication training and certification available through Teracom Training.

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Course 2221 Fundamentals of Voice over IP – Free Preview

TCO Certified VoIP Analyst (CVA)
Course 2221 Fundamentals of Voice over IP
Lesson 1: Introducton to the Fundamentals of VOIP

Enjoy this free sample from CVA

Fundamentals of Voice over IP is a complete introduction to everything Voice over IP. You’ll learn the fundamental ideas and principles of a VoIP telephone system, VoIP, SIP & all the other jargon – what it actually means and how it all works together.

At each step, we’ll also cover supporting and related technologies like Ethernet MAC frames and codecs and video over IP.

Click here to watch the video:

Course 2221 Fundamentals of Voice over IP

This is just a small sample of the vast online telecommunication training and certification available through Teracom Training.

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BOOT CAMP Online Live – Sep 21-25, 2020 – Registration Now Open Worldwide

Adapt to travel and meeting restrictions!

Benefit from the week-long BOOT CAMP training, with the same instructors, materials, interaction and knowledge transfer via live videoconferencing.

Specifically designed for non‑engineers, Teracom’s renowned telecommunications training is two courses back-to-back to make a full week called BOOT CAMP:

Core training Course 101: Broadband, Telecom, Datacom and Networking for Non‑Engineers Monday – Wednesday, then
Course 130: Voice over IP, SIP, Security, 5G and IoT Thursday and Friday.
You may register for individual courses or the full week as best meets your needs. Most people attend all five days, designated as Course 111 BOOT CAMP, to get the most comprehensive and highest quality telecommunications training available, at a discounted price, with three TCO Certifications included: CTNS, CVA and the prestigious TCO CTA Certification.

You will bust the buzzwords, understand the jargon and technologies, and most importantly, the underlying ideas, and how it all fits together …knowledge you can’t get on the job, talking to salespeople or reading articles.

Plus, you’ll get two printed course books with detailed notes bringing all of this material together and sure to be valuable references for years to come. With a total of 25 bonus online certification courses, plus 3 TCO Certification exams, both with unlimited repeats and no time limits.

Your knowledge skills, accuracy, productivity and buzzword-frustration level will all be improved with this career-enhancing training. What’s not to like?

get more info