The Book of Wireless, Second Edition

Chapter 16. USING BROADBAND FOR TELEPHONE CALLS

For more than a century, a dedicated collection of cables, switches, and radio links known as the public switched telephone network (PSTN) has connected the world's telephones. When you place a telephone call, the PSTN creates a direct link between your phone and the phone assigned to the unique telephone number you requested. The telephone industry calls this kind of basic connection POTS (plain old telephone service, pronounced like pots and pans). The Internet is a separate system that uses a different set of rules and methods to connect computers to one another. Computer data (including digital ...