telecommunicatiebedrijf

Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances by electrical, optical, radio, or other electromagnetic systems. It covers voice, data, text, and video communication between people and devices, and underpins services such as telephone networks, broadcasting, internet access, and satellite links.

Core components include transmitters and receivers, transmission media, and switching and routing infrastructure. Signaling systems manage call setup, control, and delivery of data; end-user equipment such as telephones, modems, and routers serves as access points. Information is encoded, modulated, and carried by copper wires, fiber-optic cables, radio waves, satellite links, or other media.

Historically, telecommunication began with the telegraph, expanded to the telephone, then digital switching, wireless transmission, and fiber-optic networks. In recent decades the field has seen rapid growth in mobile networks, broadband access, and the internet, which uses packet switching and the TCP/IP protocol.

Modern telecommunication encompasses fixed networks (traditional landlines and fiber), mobile networks (2G to 5G and beyond), wireless local area networks (Wi-Fi), satellite systems, and the global internet.

Standards and regulation are coordinated by international bodies such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and standard organizations like IEEE and 3GPP to ensure interoperability, spectrum management, and safety.

Telecommunication has a profound economic and social impact by enabling remote work, commerce, education, public safety, and emergency communications, while raising concerns about privacy, cybersecurity, and access disparities.