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A telephone network is like a road network, with smaller routes leading to an interchange where they join larger routes. Copper cables connect to an exchange, which joins them to the core network. Interconnections act as border crossings, inspecting traffic and allowing networks to connect globally. Telecommunications companies have agreements on how to handle traffic and charge for usage. Global telecommunications require cooperation between countries and companies.
A telephone network is very similar to a road network. It is a series of paths that are connected together so that traffic can reach its destination. Smaller routes lead from homes and businesses until they reach an interchange, where they join larger routes, which allow more traffic to move more quickly. This is, in essence, how a telephone network is organized. World telecommunications is this process on a global scale.
The smallest roads in this analogy are the copper cables that connect homes and businesses to the network. They all connect into an exchange, which acts as the interchange and joins them to the core network. The core network is the motorway, which allows much more traffic to travel much farther, much faster.
Highways sometimes lead to borders, such as those of Canada and Mexico. Here traffic must be checked, passports verified and sometimes inspected before being allowed to travel. The same happens with global telecommunications traffic. As roads have their border crossings, so does a network.
There are points in every network called interconnections. They are the equivalent of border crossings, where traffic from one network meets another. If traffic has to cross the “border” between networks it is inspected, verified, noted and passed. These interconnections are what allow network traffic to connect everyone, wherever they are in the world.
Nearly every city, state, and country has interconnections with their various telecommunications companies. Each will have agreements with the other on how to handle the traffic, how much to charge and how quickly it will get there. This is why long distance calls often cost more. Not only does the phone company have to pay for the equipment that carries the call, it also has to pay other carriers for using their network to get the call through.
Traffic is inspected at each interconnection; this is how phone companies know how much to charge each other for using their network. Just like a passport inspection, traffic is checked, its origins verified, and records held by the company can be invoiced. This happens in every interconnect around the world.
Global telecommunications is a complicated field involving a lot of equipment and a lot of contracts, agreements and cooperation between countries and companies. All of this is essential to enable users to connect with anyone, anywhere, and it’s what makes telecommunications a universal entity. Global telecommunications are a cooperative effort of all the different companies, governments and other bodies that enable these interconnections.
