In short, telecom provides us with the ability to connect with each other and the internet wherever you are. From phone calls, video streaming, internet surfing, online gaming, tele-health to remote working and so much more, they all depend on telecom.
You could even say that this industry is the stealthy backbone of our modern world. And life without it, simply wouldn’t be the same.
Did you know, ‘tele’ originates from the Greek adjective ‘tēle’, meaning ‘far away’?
Pretend that you want to order some food for dinner. You take out your phone. Before you even open your favorite food delivery app, your phone is already working in the background to send a signal to a nearby “cell tower” – one of those large antennas that you may have seen on the side of a building, or on top of a hill.
This cell tower is connected to other cell towers and data centers, and together, it’s this network of towers and centers that help your phone send, find and receive the information (i.e. data) you need. In this case, a list of available restaurants nearby that deliver your favorite dish.
In this scenario, your phone sends a slightly different signal, carrying slightly different data, to a slightly different type of nearby cell tower (but the network it is connected to is just as expansive). From here, your signal is bounced through an intricate web of other cell towers until it gets to one that is closest to the person you’re trying to call. That cell tower then sends a signal to their phone to connect and... presto! You’ve got yourself a phone call.
Throughout your conversation, your voice is converted into data and sent to the person on the other end of the line, back and forth over what are known as “radio waves” in a matter of seconds. Pretty insane, right! And the bars you see in the top corner of your phone represent how strongly your phone is connected to the nearest cell tower via radio waves.
But what happens if you’re on the move during your call? Well, in these situations, your phone will automatically assess and connect to the nearest tower. And onto the next... and the next... and the next...
Did you know, your phone signals travel at the speed of light - that’s 299,792,458 meters per second!
Where it starts to get complicated is when we start thinking about the number of calls, apps, websites, games and online services accessing the network at any one second. You can quickly see just how important a role telecom companies play in making sure the world run smoothly!
To learn about these companies and the behind-the-scenes business of building a telecom network, check out the next post by Kunal!
