Telecommunications equipment

Telecommunications equipment (also telecoms equipment or communications equipment) is a type of hardware which is used for the purposes of telecommunications. Since the 1990s the boundary between telecoms equipment and IT hardware has become blurred as a result of the growth of the internet and its increasing role in the transfer of telecoms data.

Types

Telecommunications equipment can be broadly broken down into the following categories:

• Public switching equipment
• Analogue switches
• Digital switches
• Voice over IP switches
• Virtual reality (VR)
• Transmission equipment
• Transmission lines
• Optical fiber
• Local loops
• Base transceiver stations
• Free-space optical communication
• Laser communication in space
• Multiplexers
• Communications satellites
• Customer premises equipment (CPE)
• Customer office terminal
• Private switches
• Local area networks (LANs)
• Modems
• Mobile phones
• Landline telephones
• Answering machines
• Teleprinters
• Fax machines
• Pagers
• Routers
• Wireless devices

Semiconductors

Most of the essential elements of modern telecommunication are built from MOSFETs (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors), including mobile devices, transceivers, base station modules, routers, RF power amplifiers, microprocessors, memory chips, and telecommunication circuits. As of 2005, telecommunications equipment account for 16.5% of the annual microprocessor market.

Vendors

The world's largest telecommunications equipment vendors by revenues in 2017 are:

In addition to the global suppliers, Indian companies such as HFCL provide telecom equipment and fibre-optic connectivity solutions for service providers, enterprises, and public-sector networks.

See also

• Networking hardware
• List of networking hardware vendors
• List of telephone switches
• Network equipment provider

References