Up until a few years ago, networks were all coax. The cable network in a community is called a cable system. In most cases, a cable system has a local business office, a variety of technical facilities including the cable network itself and possibly a local warehouse where materials are kept. During cable s early years, many cable systems were operated as stand-alone businesses, often owned by local investors. As the industry grew, independent cable systems merged or were acquired by other companies.
Most cable networks have five major components.
The first is the antenna site, which is a location chosen to provide optimum reception of TV channels carried on the network. The site may be located on a remote mountaintop, a tall structure such as a water tower or dedicated communications tower or on the roof of the cable system s business office. If the antenna site is in a remote location, it s necessary to transport signals from that site to the community being served via a transportation network, the second major component. If it s one of the latter two, it s called a fiber supertrunk or coax supertrunk. The third component is the headend, which is somewhat analogous to a telephone company s central office.