Communications Technology Handbook, 2nd Edition

35 Standards organisations and associated bodies

In the technical sense, the specification, of standards are important and are designed to:

•  ensure the interconnection between different users;

•  allow the portability of equipment between different applications and in different areas;

•  ensure that equipment purchased from one vendor can be interfaced with that from another.

In addition, standards can also be important to the health and wellbeing of both users and operators.

Basically there are two types of standards; those that have been developed through lengthy international discussions, and those known as de facto standards. These latter very often develop locally because no previous standard exists. As the systems to which these apply ...