ACMA - Glossary O

Information on our website often includes abbreviations, acronyms, technical language and jargon. To assist you, a glossary of commonly used terms is given here, with explanations.

The glossary is provided in the following alphabetical breakdown:

Commonly used terms	Explanation
OFLC	Office of Film and Literature Classification Australian Government agency that administers the Commonwealth Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995 and the National Classification Code for all films, computer games and submittable publications that are exhibited, sold or hired in Australia.
open narrowcasting service	A free-to-air broadcasting service that has its reception limited by being targeted to a special interest group, by being intended for limited locations, by being provided during a limited period, or limited for some other reason.
pay TV	subscription television service Service providing access, for a fee, to television channels transmitted using cable, satellite or terrestrial microwave.
payphone	Public telephone where calls may be paid for with coins, phone cards, credit cards or reverse charge facilities.
PDA	personal digital assistant Small mobile hand-held device that provides computing and information storage and retrieval capabilities for personal or business use.
P2P applications	peer to peer applications Application files not stored on a central server, but exchanged directly between users, for example, consumer-grade VoIP, a voice application that consumers download onto their own computers, bypassing carrier and based service-delivery.
phishing	Fraudulent practice of using official-looking emails and internet sites in an attempt to mislead internet users into disclosing online passwords, user names and other personal information.
podcast	Digital audio file made available on the internet for downloading to a personal audio player. Files can be downloaded automatically using aggregator services or by subscribing to podcast feeds.
portability	See number portability.
post-paid service	Service where user is charged based on usage during a billing period.
premium rate services	Content services, including SMS, voice, fax and data, accessed on numbers with a 190 prefix, where the cost of the call, including access to the content, is included on the customer’s telephone bill. Content includes sports results, weather forecasts, astrology services, competition entries, dating contact and telephone sex services.
pre-paid	Service where user pays in advance for a certain amount of usage or service credit.
priority assistance	Service for people with a diagnosed life-threatening medical condition entitling them to faster connection and fault repair of their fixed-line telephone service.
PSTN	public switched telephone network A public telecommunications system operated by a carrier to provide services to the public.
RADSL	rate-adaptive asymmetric digital subscriber line A version of ADSL where the modems test the line at start-up and adapt their operating speed to the fastest the line can handle. See ADSL.
RCC	Radiocommunications Consultative Committee Committee established to advise ACMA about radiocommunications matters.
RIBS	Remote Indigenous Broadcasting Services Radio and television broadcasting services for remote Indigenous communities licensed by ACMA as community broadcasting services—formerly licensed under the Broadcasting in Remote Aboriginal Communities Scheme (BRACS).
RIMO	remote Indigenous media organisation Organisations that facilitate access to communications and media services in remote Indigenous communities.
RLAN	radio local area network High data rate two-way wireless data communications network. Uses radiocommunications to provide low-cost data communications infrastructure for a limited geographic area.
RVA	recorded voice announcement A recorded message which advises, for example, that a telecommunications number has changed.

Glossary O – R