Telecommunications

Telecommunications is the transmission of signs, signals, messages, voice, images, sounds, or data over a distance by electromagnetic, optical, or wired means. The sector spans fixed-line, mobile, satellite, broadcast, and IP services and is governed globally by the ITU and nationally by regulators such as the FCC, BNetzA, and ARCEP.

Categories: Radio Access NetworkProtocols and StandardsInternet and Routing

Telecom in context

The radio access network is the layer where mobile devices attach to the operator's infrastructure. Attacks in this layer include IMSI catching, rogue base stations, downgrade attacks and jamming, and defenses hinge on mutual authentication, integrity-protected signaling and Open RAN supply-chain hygiene.

Telecom security is written into standards from 3GPP, GSMA, ETSI, IETF and ITU-T. Understanding which body owns which specification, and how the specs interlock (for example 3GPP TS 33.501 with GSMA FS.34 for 5G SBA security), is essential for both design and audit work.

To place Telecom in the wider telecom-security picture, review TCP/IP, Handoff (Handover), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), PoE, DetNet and Segment Routing.

Related terms

More from the TelcoSec Glossary

Browse the full TelcoSec Glossary, the Ultimate Guide to Mobile Network Security, or the P1 Arsenal of telecom-security tools.