In
telecommunications
Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...
, a long line is a transmission line in a long-distance
communications network
A telecommunications network is a group of nodes interconnected by telecommunications links that are used to exchange messages between the nodes. The links may use a variety of technologies based on the methodologies of circuit switching, messag ...
such as
carrier system
A carrier system is a transmission system that transmission (telecommunications), transmits information, such as the voice signals of a telephone call and the video signals of television, by modulation of one or multiple carrier signals above the ...
s,
microwave radio relay
Microwave transmission is the Data transmission, transmission of information by electromagnetic waves with wavelengths in the microwave frequency range of 300 MHz to 300 GHz (1 m - 1 mm wavelength) of the electromagnetic spectrum ...
links, geosynchronous
satellite
A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...
links, underground cables,
aerial cables and
open wire, and
Submarine communications cable
A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the seabed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea. The first submarine communications cables were laid beginning in the 1850s and car ...
s. In the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, some of this technology was spun off into the corporate entity known as ''AT&T Long Distance'' with the
breakup of AT&T in 1984. Previously, the
AT&T Long Lines
AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...
division of the
Bell System
The Bell System was a system of telecommunication companies, led by the Bell Telephone Company and later by the AT&T Corporation, American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), that dominated the telephone services industry in North America fo ...
provided maintenance and installation of long line facilities for the Bell System's long-distance service.
See also
*
Long-haul communications In telecommunications, the term long-haul communications has the following meanings:
1. In public switched networks, pertaining to circuits that span large distances, such as the circuits in inter-LATA, interstate, and international communication ...
*
Long-distance calling
In telecommunications, a long-distance call (U.S.) or trunk call (also known as a toll call in the UK ) is a telephone call made to a location outside a defined local calling area. Long-distance calls are typically charged a higher billing rate t ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Long Line (Telecommunications)
Telephony
Communication circuits