Analog vs. Digital Telecom

The telephone network as we know it today was originally made for voice telephone calls.  It was the telegraph that was invented in 1840 that that was used for short messages of a text variet.  Then the phone was invented in 1876 it was used to send voice transmissions and voice transmissions only.

Spoken words are sent as analog sound waves – just as people speak in an analog format (with waves).  Phone calls were sent in analog form from the 1870’s all the way up to the 1960s.

Nowadays much of the public telecom network is now digital, but there are still many many analog services in use – and parts of the telephone network are analog.  The majority of telephones that plug into home telephone jacks are analog instruments.  Most TV signals and telephone lines and internet lines are digital, but the equipment and the drops of the last mile may be analog.

As more of us use our computers to communicate (VOIP), and as calling volume increases, the analog format designed for lower volumes of telecom traffic is proving inefficient.  Digital signals are faster, have more capacity, and contain fewer errors than analog waves.

High speed telecom signals sent on ISDN service, within computers, via fiber lines and between most telcom company offices are digital.  With the excpetion of most current TV and portions of cable TV wiring, analog services are used for slow speed transmissions.

When you think of the “plain old telephone service” (POTS), you’re thinking of traditional analog services.