CBAN's Big Broadband Glossary

3G: The term for the 3rd generation wireless telecommunications standards usually with network speeds of less than 1 Mbps. (NTIA)

4G: The term for 4th generation wireless telecommunications standards usually with network speeds greater than 1 Mbps. (NTIA)

5G: The term for emerging 5th generation wireless telecommunications standards usually associated with network speeds of up to 1 Gbps or more. (NTIA)

Access (Broadband/Internet Access): Access is the availability of a given resource or service, regardless of whether the individual chooses to use it. This Plan refers to "broadband access," which is the availability of infrastructure that can deliver broadband service; and "device access," which refers to the availability of a device if an individual chooses to use one.

Adoption (Broadband or Internet Adoption): Daily access to the Internet at speeds, quality and capacity necessary to accomplish common tasks; with the digital skills necessary to fully participate online; and on a personal device and secure convenient network. (NDIA)

Adware: A type of malware that generates pop-up advertisements, or links to ad-laden web pages, to generate illegitimate revenue. (MS-ISAC)

Assistive Technology (AT): Assistive Technology (AT) is any item, device, or piece of equipment used to maintain or improve the independence and function of people with disabilities and seniors, in education, employment, recreation, and daily living activities.

Asymmetric, Symmetric: Whether the up and down speeds match. A rate of 10 Mbps down/10 Mbps up would be symmetric, while a speed of 10/1 would be asymmetric.

Backbone: The Internet is really a network of networks, and the large trunk lines that connect them are referred to as the "backbone." It can also be thought of as being like the highway system: the interstate highways are the backbones that connect regions that have highway networks of their own.

Backhaul: The telecommunications link used to transport traffic from a geographically distant point, such as a wireless base station, to a significant aggregation point in the network, such as a mobile telephone switching office or Internet peering point.

Bandwidth: The capability of telecommunications and Internet networks to transmit data and signals. (NTIA)

Barriers: Barriers to broadband can be many things, but often center around broadband availability and affordability. This Plan highlights barriers in detail in Chapter 4, Current State of Digital Equity: Needs Assessment.

Bits and Bytes: A bit is the basic unit of information in computing. The name comes from "binary digit," and each bit has one value, either 1 or 0, or on and off. It usually takes eight bits to represent one character of text; a group of eight bits makes a byte. Data file sizes are measured in bytes while data speed is measured in bits.

Broadband: The term broadband commonly refers to high-speed Internet access that is always on and faster than traditional dial-up access. Broadband includes several high-speed transmission technologies, such as fiber, wireless, satellite, digital subscriber line and cable. For the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), broadband capability requires consumers to have access to actual download speeds of at least 25 Mbps and actual upload speeds of at least 3 Mbps. (NTIA)

Broadband Over Power Lines (BPL): BPL is the delivery of broadband over the existing low- and medium-voltage electric power distribution network. BPL speeds are very comparable to DSL and cable modem speeds. BPL can be provided to homes using existing electrical connections and outlets. BPL is an emerging technology that is available in very limited areas. It has significant potential because power lines are installed virtually everywhere, alleviating the need to build new broadband facilities for every customer. (FCC)

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Cable Modem Internet: Cable modem service enables cable operators to provide broadband using the same coaxial cables that deliver pictures and sound to your TV set. Most cable modems are external devices that have two connections: one to the cable wall outlet, the other to a computer. They provide transmission speeds of 1.5 Mbps or more. Subscribers can access their cable modem service by simply turning on their computers, without dialing-up an ISP. You can still watch cable TV while using it. Transmission speeds vary depending on the type of cable modem, cable network, and traffic load. Speeds are comparable to DSL. (FCC)

Carrier of Last Resort: The carrier that commits (or is required by law) to provide service to any customer in a service area that requests it, even if serving that customer would not be economically viable at prevailing rates.

Cellular Internet: Mobile wireless broadband services are also becoming available from mobile telephone services providers and others. These services are generally appropriate for highly-mobile customers and require a special PC card with a built-in antenna that plugs into a user's laptop computer. Generally, they provide lower speeds, in the range of several hundred Kbps. (FCC)

Census block: The smallest geographic unit for which the Census Bureau collects and tabulates decennial census data.

Census Tract: Census tracts are small, relatively permanent geographic entities within counties (or the statistical equivalents of counties) delineated by a committee of local data users. Generally, census tracts have between 2,500 and 8,000 residents and boundaries that follow visible features.

CESER: Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, Emergency Response; an office of the United States Department of Energy. Administers the Rural and Municipal Utility Advanced Cybersecurity (RMUC) Grant and Technical Assistance Program.

CIS: Center for Internet Security. Coordinates the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC).

CISA: Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Administers the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP).

Communications Act of 1934: Signed into law by Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Communications Act of 1934 created a unified regulatory system for communications. Among other things, it created the Federal Communications Commission, which replaced the Federal Radio Commission, and took over the regulation of interstate telephone services from the Interstate Commerce Commission. The central principle of the act was that a comprehensive nationwide communications system "with adequate facilities at reasonable charges" was good for the country.

Community Anchor Institutions: Community Anchor Institutions are not-for-profit entities that facilitate publicly accessible internet service to vulnerable populations, including NTIA-defined covered populations, and those that lack access to gigabit-level broadband service.

Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC): A company that offers local telephone service in competition with the legacy telephone company.

Computer Virus: A computer program that can replicate itself, infect a computer without permission or knowledge of the user, and the spread or propagate to another computer. (CISA)

Conduit: A reinforced tube through which cabling runs. Conduit is useful both to protect fiber optic cables in the ground and because one can place the conduit underground when convenient and later "pull" the fiber cabling through the conduit. (Connected Nation)

Connect America Fund: The Connect America Fund was unveiled in 2011 as part of the Universal Service Fund, redesigned to help fund Internet infrastructure in the nation's high-cost areas. CAF put a new emphasis on Internet service.

Connectivity: Connectivity is the ability to link to and communicate with other computer systems, electronic devices, software, or the internet.

Content provider: A business or coop that doesn't provide the Internet access but provides things to do on the Internet. Netflix and Google are good examples.

Covered Populations: Covered populations are defined within the Digital Equity Act and funds were issued proportionally with the number of individuals in those demographics. These are:

• Individuals who live in covered households (a household which, for the most recently completed year, has income that is not more than 150 percent of an amount equal to the Census-stated poverty level)
• Older individuals (60 and above)
• Justice-impacted individuals, including previously and currently incarcerated individuals, other than individuals who are incarcerated in a Federal correctional facility
• Veterans
• Individuals with disabilities
• Individuals with a language barrier, including individuals who are English learners; and have low levels of literacy
• Racial or ethnic minorities
• Rural residents

Cyberattack: An attempt to gain unauthorized access to system services, resources, or information, or an attempt to compromise system integrity. (CISA)

Cyberbullying: Cyberbullying is the willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices.

Cybercrime: Criminal activity perpetrated with or toward a computer or network, including software and social media. (CISA)

Cybersecurity: Strategy, policy, and standards regarding the security of and operations in cyberspace, and encompass the full range of threat reduction, vulnerability reduction, deterrence, international engagement, incident response, resiliency, and recovery policies and activities, including computer network operations, information assurance, law enforcement, diplomacy, military, and intelligence missions as they relate to the security and stability of the global information and communications infrastructure. (CISA)

Dark Fiber: Fiber that is in place but not being used for broadband services. (NTIA)

Data Cap: A maximum set by internet service providers on how much data can be downloaded/uploaded in a given period of time. Penalties for exceeding data caps can range from increased monthly rates to throttled internet speeds.

Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS): A standard for the transmission of data over a cable network.

Data Packets: Data is sent over the Internet as packets. One file is divided into many packets when it is sent, then reassembled into one file again at its destination. Using packets allows data to travel much faster since the individual packets are smaller than the original file and can travel separately over different routes before reassembling. Think small cars in traffic compared to semis.

Denial of Service Attack: An attack that prevents or impairs the authorized use of information system resources or services. (CISA)

DHS: United States Department of Homeland Security

Digital Divide: The difference between those who have access to internet and those who lack it. This definition is further expanded when considering those who have access to broadband (25 Mbps download / 3 Mbps upload by FCC definitions) and those who have slower internet. (Internet Society)

Digital Divide Index (DDI): The Digital Divide Index (DDI) is a data analysis framework developed by the Purdue Center for Regional Development. The DDI assesses physical access to technology and related socioeconomic factors that could limit digital skills and use. The DDI score ranges from 0 to 100, with higher numbers indicating a more significant digital divide. Data for this index comes from the five-year American Community Survey and Ookla Speedtest open dataset. The index combines many factors into two scores related to infrastructure access and demographic factors to determine a locality's DDI score.

Digital Equity: Digital Equity ensures all individuals and communities have the information technology capacity needed for full participation in our society, democracy, and economy. Digital Equity is necessary for civic and cultural participation, employment, lifelong learning, and access to essential services. (Benton Institute)

Digital Equity Act (DEA): The Digital Equity Act (DEA) provides $2.75 billion to establish three grant programs that promote digital equity and inclusion. They aim to ensure that all people and communities have the skills, technology, and capacity needed to reap the full benefits of our digital economy.

Digital Equity Asset: A digital equity asset refers to a community's existing resources that are used to facilitate, improve, and enhance digital equity.

Digital Hygiene: Digital hygiene refers to a set of best practices that serve as a first line of defense against digital threats.

Digital Inclusion: Individual- and community-level access to robust broadband connections; Internet-enabled devices that meet their needs; and the skills to explore, create, and collaborate in the digital world. BroadbandUSA evaluates digital inclusion through access, digital literacy, meaningful use, and institutionalization. (NTIA)

Digital Literacy: Digital literacy is the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills.

Digital Navigator: Digital Navigators are trained staff who work with residents on digital literacy including home connectivity and how to search for or apply for jobs and critical services.

Digital Redlining: Digital redlining is discrimination by internet service providers in the deployment, maintenance, or upgrade of infrastructure or delivery of services. The denial of services has disparate impacts on people in certain areas of cities or regions, most frequently based on income, race, and ethnicity.

Digital Skills: Digital skills refer to the skills – technical and cognitive – required to find, understand, evaluate, create, and communicate digital information in a wide variety of formats.

Digital Skills Training: Digital skills training is any course, instruction, tutorial, program, resource, or guide that provides or offers lessons to improve digital skills.

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) Internet: DSL is a wireline transmission technology that transmits data faster over traditional copper telephone lines already installed to homes and businesses. DSL-based broadband provides transmission speeds ranging from several hundred Kbps to millions of bits per second (Mbps). The availability and speed of your DSL service may depend on the distance from your home or business to the closest telephone company facility.

Types of DSL:

• Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL): Used primarily by residential customers, such as Internet surfers, who receive a lot of data but do not send much. ADSL typically provides faster speed in the downstream direction than the upstream direction. ADSL allows faster downstream data transmission over the same line used to provide voice service, without disrupting regular telephone calls on that line.
• Symmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL): Used typically by businesses for services such as video conferencing, which need significant bandwidth both upstream and downstream.

• High Data Rate Digital Subscriber Line (HDSL) and Very High Data Rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL): Available to businesses. (FCC)

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attack: Similar to a DoS Attack, but the origin of the attack is from many sources and is more difficult to trace. (MS-ISAC)

• A Standard DDoS attack occurs when attackers send a substantial amount of malformed network traffic to a target server or network. (MS-ISAC)
• A Reflection DDoS attack occurs when attackers spoof [disguise] their IP address to pose as the intended victim and then send legitimate requests to legitimate public-facing servers. The responses to these requests are sent to the intended victim and originate from legitimate servers. (MS-ISAC)

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FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigation. Hosts the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

FCC: Federal Communications Commission. Serves as the federal regulator for different communications systems and practices nationwide. Administers different programs, including the Connect America Fund (CAF), Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), and E-Rate Program.

Federal Communications Commission: The FCC was created by the Communications Act of 1934 and today regulates "interstate communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories."

Fiber Optic Internet: Fiber optic technology converts electrical signals carrying data to light and sends the light through transparent glass fibers about the diameter of a human hair. Fiber transmits data at speeds far exceeding current DSL or cable modem speeds, typically by tens or even hundreds of Mbps. The actual speed you experience will vary depending on a variety of factors, such as how close to your computer the service provider brings the fiber and how the service provider configures the service, including the amount of bandwidth used. The same fiber providing your broadband can also simultaneously deliver voice (VoIP) and video services, including video-on-demand. Telecommunications providers sometimes offer fiber broadband in limited areas and have announced plans to expand their fiber networks and offer bundled voice, Internet access, and video services. Variations of the technology run the fiber all the way to the customer's home or business, to the curb outside, or to a location somewhere between the provider's facilities and the customer. (FCC)

Fiber to the Home/Fiber to the Premises (FTTH/FTTP): The delivery and connection of fiber optics directly to a home or building. (NTIA)

Fiber to the Node/Fiber to the Curb (FTTN/FTTC): FTTN is a network where a fiber cable is run to a cluster of subscriber homes or a neighborhood, where the optical signal is converted to coaxial cable for delivery to individual homes. FTTC involves a cable delivering service to a discrete number of homes. (FCC)

Fixed Wireless Internet: Wireless broadband connects a home or business to the Internet using a radio link between the customer's location and the service provider's facility. Wireless broadband can be mobile or fixed. Wireless technologies using longer-range directional equipment provide broadband service in remote or sparsely populated areas where DSL or cable modem services would be costly to provide. Speeds are generally comparable to DSL and cable modem. An external antenna is usually required. Wireless broadband Internet access service offered over fixed networks allow consumers to access the Internet from a fixed point while stationary and often require a direct line-of-sight between the wireless transmitter and receiver. These services have been offered using both licensed spectrum and unlicensed devices. For example, thousands of small Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs) provide such wireless broadband at speeds of around one Mbps using unlicensed devices, often in rural areas not served by cable or wireline broadband networks. (FCC)

FTC: Federal Trade Commission. Regulates business and trading practices nationwide.

Gigabits Per Second (Gbps): A measure of high-speed internet, typically classified as "gigabit," where the download speed is equal to at least 1 Gbps or 1,000 Mbps. 1 Gbps is equal to one billion bits per second, or approximately 125 megabytes (125 million bytes), per second.

GSO: Geostationary Orbit - the condition where a satellite's orbital pattern is synchronized with Earth's rotation to maintain a fixed position above the planet's surface.

Hardware: Hardware refers to the physical components of devices that can be seen and touched.

High Earth Orbit (HEU): A region of space around the Earth where satellites and other spacecraft are placed in orbits that are very high above the planet's atmosphere.

High-Speed Internet Access: High-speed internet access refers to the ability to connect to internet speeds that meet or exceed the FCC threshold for "served", inclusive of all infrastructure and/or affordability concerns required for that connection.

Hotspot: A device that is capable of receiving broadband internet access service; and sharing broadband internet access service with another device through the use of Wi-Fi. Hotspots can either be standalone devices or part of an internet-enabled device. (NTIA)

HSI: Homeland Security Investigations, a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

IC3: Internet Crime Complaint Center, a division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

ILECs and CLECs: Incumbent local exchange carriers and competitive local exchange carriers. Before the Telecommunications Act of 1996, telephone companies operated as legal monopolies in defined territories of service, called exchanges. After the 1996 act and its emphasis on competition, these carriers became incumbent local exchange carriers in their operating territories. At the same time competing local exchange carriers were allowed to enter any territory, build their own infrastructure, and offer services. A large part of communications regulations and the way communications companies operate in Minnesota is still influenced by these territories. For example, ILECs were and still are required to be the carrier of last resort (COLR) within their own exchanges, providing phone service to everyone regardless of cost of operation.

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA): Known as the IIJA, this is federal legislation passed in 2021 that allocated $1.2 trillion in infrastructure spending, including $65 billion for broadband and digital equity. This legislation created the BEAD and Digital Equity Act programs.

Insider Threat: One or more individuals with the access and/or inside knowledge of a company, organization, or enterprise that would allow them to exploit the vulnerabilities of that entity's security systems, services, products, or facilities with the intent to cause harm. (CISA)

Internet Protocol: The computer language that allows all the above-mentioned technologies to speak to each other. Before the invention of Internet protocol (IP), telephone networks could only transfer data on other telephone networks, cable networks on other cable networks and so on. IP makes the transfer of data technology-neutral, allowing networks everywhere to transfer data anywhere.

ISAC: Information Sharing and Analysis Center

ISP or provider: Internet service provider, an entity that provides access to the Internet and the services available there; who a customer buys Internet service from. In Minnesota, ISPs come in several forms, including privately owned commercial businesses, telephone cooperatives, electric cooperatives, stand-alone Internet service coops, and municipal providers.

Keylogger: A form of spyware that records key presses, which can allow cybercriminals to steal credentials such as credit cards, social security numbers, or other privileged information. (MS-ISAC)

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Last mile: The term that describes the last link connecting the provider's network to the customer's premises, either a house or a business. The last mile is the most expensive part of the network to build or upgrade because of the number of units involved. One fiber cable may be trenched down a street, but there may be twenty houses on the street that need to be connected. Upgrading the copper cable connection between each house and the fiber in the street would be the last mile. This last link can also be the reason customers often don't receive the level of Internet speed advertised by their provider. Since data travels more slowly on copper compared to fiber, when the data hits the copper, it slows down.

Latency: The time that it takes for a packet of data to travel from one point (device) to the other. Measured in milliseconds (ms).

LCSA: Local Community Stabilization Authority. Collects fees paid by telecommunications providers that are using public rights-of-way and distributes them to cities, villages, and townships throughout Michigan under the Metropolitan Extension Telecommunications Rights-of-Way Oversight (METRO) Act, P.A. 48 of 2002.

Lit Fiber: An active fiber optic cable capable of transmitting data. (NTIA)

MAC: Metropolitan Affairs Coalition

Malware: Software that compromises the operation of a system by performing an unauthorized function or process. (CISA)

MC3: Michigan Cyber Command Center, a division of the Michigan State Police

Media: (Fiber, DSL, cable/coax, wifi, wireless) The different types of materials over which data travels. Sometimes referred to as the "media" or "technology" used in the physical infrastructure of broadband.

Megabits per Second (Mbps): The primary measure of bandwidth for broadband internet speeds. One byte (approximately the size of a character typed onto a computer) is made of 8 bits. 1 Mbps is then equal to one million bits, or approximately 125 kilobytes (125,000 bytes), per second.

Mesh Network: Officially referred to as "mobile ad hoc networks," mesh networks provide end-to-end Internet Protocol (IP) communications for broadband voice, data, and video service combined with integrated geographical location logic designed to function in a mobile wireless environment. Compared to WLANs and cellular networks, mesh networks have a stronger, more stable, and self-healing network environment that can transmit data stably and more seamlessly between nodes. (NTIA)

Mobile: Mobile wireless Internet, accessed via smartphones. Data is transferred between cell phone towers, which are connected to the service provider by fiber.

MS-ISAC: Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center

Multi-use facility: A large group of residences or businesses that need internet. For example, apartment buildings and shopping centers.

National Telecommunications and Information Administration: An agency of the federal Department of Commerce, the NTIA serves as advisor to the President on the impact of telecommunications policies on the nation's economic and technological advancement and on the telecommunications industry itself.

Network: A network is a system that connects two or more computing devices for transmitting or sharing information.

Next Generation 911 (NG911): An emergency response system that integrates the core functionalities of the E911 system and also supports multimedia communications (such as texting, e-mail, and video) to the PSAP and to emergency personnel on the ground.

NTIA: National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The primary agency responsible for regulating and administering funding for telecommunications infrastructure. Administers a number of different programs, including the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program; Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP); Digital Equity Act (DEA) Programs; Connecting Minority Communities (CMC) Pilot Program; Enabling Middle Mile Infrastructure Program; and the Broadband Infrastructure Program.

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Open source: A software development model by which the source code to a computer program is made available publicly under a license that gives users the right to modify and redistribute the program.

Outsider Threat: A person or group of persons external to an organization who are not authorized to access its assets and pose a potential risk to the organization and its assets. (CISA)

Peering and transit agreements: Agreements that govern moving one entity's data traffic over another entity's network. With peering agreements, network owners allow each others' traffic to move over their networks at no cost or in some kind of cost-sharing arrangement. With transit agreements, the entity that wants to move the data (it may be an ISP or a content provider like Netflix) must pay the network owner to use their network. (Here's a good explanation and illustration of how peering and transit agreements work.) If a provider moves its own customers' data on its own network (e.g., sending an email to someone served by the same provider), there are no fees. If two entities don't have an agreement, the data may have to travel farther around on networks they do have agreements with, which can also slow traffic down.

Phishing: A digital form of social engineering to deceive individuals into providing sensitive information. (CISA)

• Smishing is a form of phishing conducted over text messages (short message service [SMS])
• Spear phishing is a form of phishing where the deceitful email, text, or phone call is directed toward a specific person or organization.

Pole attachment: Any attachment by a cable television system or provider of communications service to a pole, duct, conduit, or right-of-way owned or controlled by a utility.

Public-Private Partnerships (PPP): Public-private partnerships are formal agreements between private industry and public, governmental entities that seek to mutually benefit their residents, businesses, and community institutions.

Ransomware: A type of malware that blocks access to device files, systems, or networks unless a ransom is paid. Some cybercriminals may threaten to publish personal data until the ransomware payment is received. (FBI)

RD: Rural Development Office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Administers the Rural e-Connectivity (ReConnect) Loan and Grant Program; Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Program; and Telecommunications Infrastructure Loans and Loan Guarantees Program.

Rights-of-Way (ROW): Rights-of-Way (ROW) are legal rights to pass through property owned by another. ROWs are frequently used to secure access to land for digging trenches, deploying fiber, constructing towers and deploying equipment on existing towers and utility poles.

Robocalls: Calls made with an autodialer or that contain a message made with a prerecorded artificial voice. Advances in technology have unfortunately allowed illegal and spoofed robocalls to be made from anywhere in the world and more cheaply and easily than ever before. That's why its' become more of a problem for consumers, and a more difficult problem to solve. (FCC)

Rural Utility Service: A division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Utility Service grew out of the Depression-era Rural Electrification Administration. Its mission is to help provide public utilities—water and sewer, electrification, and telecommunications—to rural areas through public-private partnerships providing loans and grants. RUS is one of three agencies that make up USDA Rural Development (including Rural Business-Cooperative Service and Rural Housing Service).

RUS: Rural Utilities Service, a division of the United States Department of Agriculture

Satellite Internet: Internet connection maintained through signals transmitted and received by orbiting satellites. Satellite broadband is another form of wireless broadband, and is also useful for serving remote or sparsely populated areas. Downstream and upstream speeds for satellite broadband depend on several factors, including the provider and service package purchased, the consumer's line of sight to the orbiting satellite, and the weather. Typically a consumer can expect to receive (Download) at a speed of about 500 Kbps and send (upload) at a speed of about 80 Kbps. These speeds may be slower than DSL and cable modem, but they are about 10 times faster than the download speed with dial-up Internet access. Service can be disrupted in extreme weather conditions. (FCC)

Scalable: A description of a system that can accommodate greater usage.

Service Gap: Service gaps are areas where broadband service is limited or lacking altogether. Mapping out areas where households are unserved or underserved, layered with issue areas such as access to devices, extent of infrastructure, available providers, and types of networks is critical in targeting funding and technical assistance to close the gap and bring as many people online as possible.

Types of Service Gaps:

• Unserved: Unserved areas are defined as having connection speeds lower than 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload. (U.S. Treasury Department)
• Underserved: Underserved areas are defined as having connection speeds greater than 25/3 Mbps, but less than 100/20 Mbps. (U.S. Treasury Department)

Service Level Agreement (SLA): An agreement between a user and a service provider defining the nature of the service provided and establishing metrics for that service, trouble reporting procedures and penalties if the service provider fails to perform.

Service Plan: Service plan refers to the specific plan that you subscribe to for the use of internet service. Service plans are typically monthly subscriptions.

Smart meter: A digital meter (typically electric) located on the customer premises that records energy usage and has two-way communications capabilities with utility systems.

Social Engineering: A manipulation tactic used to deceive a user to take a questionable action or compromise information. The information pulled from a source may appear harmless on the surface, but attackers can move from source to source to piece information together until there is enough to use to exploit data. (NIST)

Spyware: Software that is secretly or surreptitiously installed into an information system without the knowledge of the system user or owner. (CISA)

SSA: United States Social Security Administration. The SSA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) releases notices and provides assistance to those who suspect or are victims of social security fraud, including online scams.

Stakeholder: Stakeholders are any individuals, groups, and/or organizations involved in, impacted by, or interested in State and Local broadband efforts.

Symmetric, Asymmetric: Whether the up and down speeds match. A rate of 10 Mbps down/10 Mbps up would be symmetric, while a speed of 10/1 would be asymmetric.

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Telecommunications Act of 1996: Changes in technology, court decisions, and changes in federal policy led to the first major overhaul of telecommunications law in sixty years. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 brought many significant changes to the industry in the name of competition, including the breakup of AT&T's near monopoly on long distance service. It created the Universal Service Fund and the E-rate program for schools and libraries, but it also created some confusion by creating distinctions between "telecommunications service" and "information service."

Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS): A telephone service that enables persons with TTYs, individuals who use sign language and people who have speech and hearing disabilities to use telephone services by having a third party transmit and translate a call. Consumers can access these services by using, for example, video phones, computers, web-enabled devices, captioned telephones, and TTYs.

Telehealth or Telemedicine: Telehealth or telemedicine is the use of high-speed, high-capacity internet to support long-distance healthcare services, patient and provider education, and healthcare administration.

Teletypewriters (TTYs): A TTY (teletypewriter) is a communication device used by people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have severe speech impairment.

Threat Landscape: Also known as the "threat environment," the threat landscape consists of the identified threats to an enterprise. Namely, a threat landscape are the types of malware, exploitable vulnerabilities, and criminal measures that a cybercriminal may use to infiltrate and/or attack networked devices or infrastructure in an organization. (CISA)

Tier 1, 2, 3: Classification indicating the size of a service provider. Tier 1 providers are the largest, such as AT&T, CenturyLink, Zayo, and Verizon, with network systems that span the globe. They can generally send data anywhere without having to pay transit fees, either because they own the network or they have peering agreements with other networks. A Tier 2 network "peers" with many networks, but also has to pay some transit fees. A Tier 3 service provider must pay transit fees to access the Internet.

Trojan Horse: A computer program that appears to have a useful function, but also has a hidden and potentially malicious functions that evades security mechanisms, sometimes by exploiting legitimate authorizations of a system entity that invokes the program. (CISA)

Underserved: Locations where Internet service is at or above the FCC threshold but with no access to broadband service at speeds 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload.

Universal Design: Universal design is a concept in which products and environments are designed to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.

Universal Service Fund (USF): A central principle of the Communications Act of 1934 was that all Americans should have access to a basic level of telecommunications service—universal service—and many policies were enacted to carry out that goal. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 created the Universal Service Fund, a pool of money collected from telecommunications companies and used for building and maintaining telecommunications infrastructure and services in high-cost areas. Four programs are supported by the Fund: the High-Cost Program, Lifeline Program, Rural Health Care Program, and Schools and Libraries Program.Telecommunications companies may charge a Universal Service Fund fee back to customers to help recover some of their contribution to the program.

Unserved: Unserved refers to locations where internet service is at or below the FCC threshold of 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload.

Upload and download: The direction of the data between the end user and the service provider. Something moving "upstream" or "uploading" is moving from the end user's computer or device to the service provider, while data moving "downstream" or "downloading" is moving from the service provider to the end user. When referring to speed, "10 down" means data is moving downstream to the end user at a rate of 10 megabits per second or Mbps, while "1 up" means data is moving at a rate of 1 Mbps up from the end user. Downstream is important in applications like streaming video, while upstream is important for end users who need to send large files somewhere, for instance, to a customer or to a hospital.

Upload Speed: Upload speed is the rate that data or information is transferred from a user's computer or device to the internet.

USDA: United States Department of Agriculture

USDOE: United States Department of Energy

USSS: United States Secret Service. The Cyber Fraud Task Forces are regional cybercrime investigative units that assist with those that are the victim of online fraud.

VoIP: Voice over Internet Protocol

VPN: Virtual Private Network

Wi-Fi: Short for "Wireless Fidelity." A technology that uses radio transmissions to enable electronic devices to connect to a wireless local area network (LAN). (NTIA)

Wireless Local Access Network (WLAN): WLANs provide wireless broadband access over shorter distances and are often used to extend the reach of a "last-mile" wireline or fixed wireless broadband connection within a home, building, or campus environment. Wi-Fi networks use unlicensed devices and can be designed for private access within a home or business, or be used for public Internet access at "hot spots" such as restaurants, coffee shops, hotels, airports, convention centers, and city parks. (FCC)

Worm: A self-replicating, self-propagating, self-contained program that uses networking mechanisms to spread itself. (CISA)

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