Acronyms and Explanations

As most people know by now, this industry is peppered with technical terms and acronyms. We hope this page helps you to understand them.

DSL
This is Digital Subscriber Line and refers to a technology which enables existing copper phone cables to be used to carry higher speed communications than dialup modems allow. There are many derivatives of this technology. They are referred to as xDSL where x is a wildcard indicating that there are many types.

The ones currently in use in Ireland are ADSL (Asymmetric, meaning the download speed is different to the upload speed) and RADSL (Rate Adaptive, which means it adapts to the quality and distance of the copper).

FRIACO or Flat Rate
Flat rate internet access call orignation (FRIACO) refers to something introduced in June of 2003 in Ireland. It allows dialup internet users to access the internet for a number of hours per month for a set fee. For example, I can pay a provider &eruo;10 per month and get 30 hours of internet access. This means I no longer have to watch the clock while online.

Symmetrical/Asymmetrical
All connections consist of up and down components. Many of the current always on, high speed offerings from the providers have higher download and lower upload speeds. These are described as asymmetrical. They are configured in this way to cater mainly to people browsing the web where most of the information is flowing from the internet to the computer. However, many applications are better suited to symmetrical services, where the download and upload capacities are the same. Examples include voice and video over the internet and file sharing.

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