2/3/23, 9:37 AM What is the difference between P.S.T.N and I.S.D.N?

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What is the difference between P.S.T.N and

I.S.D.N?
ACHONWA ALVAN

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PSTN stands for Public Switched Telephone Network. ISDN stands

for Integrated Services Digital Network.

These are two distinct networks that work to transfer voice and data
over the phone lines.

Public Switched Telephone Network

The public switched telephone network is a traditional circuit-
switched telephone network. It has been around for a very long
time, even before the commercialization of the telephone network
around 1874.

It consists of the complex interconnection of switching centers and

end-users that offers a voice connection between any two valid
subscribers.

A successful connection to the public switched telephone network

needs an operator and a pair of wires, typically overhead. It also

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2/3/23, 9:37 AM What is the difference between P.S.T.N and I.S.D.N?

needs a telephone exchange.

As the number of subscribers increases, the demand for physical

space to house the switchboards and operators also increases. This
led to massive exchange buildings and a large staff required to
operate the PSTN system when it came into existence.

PSTN is analog in nature.

AN ILLUSTRATION OF PSTN

Exchange Center 2
Exchange Center 1

Subscriber
2

Subscriber
1

Transmission
network

Subscriber
Subscriber 4
3

Exchange Center 4
Exchange Center 3

An illustration of PSTN

Integrated Services Digital Network

The integrated services digital network provides end-to-end
digital connectivity to support a wide range of services, including
voice and non-voice services.

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2/3/23, 9:37 AM What is the difference between P.S.T.N and I.S.D.N?

Users have access to these services via a limited set of standard

multi-purpose customer interfaces.

ISDN came to light around 1960, when the analog system was
unable to provide long-distance connection.

The innovation of ISDN eased the transition of networking and

improved the quality of the communication network with its packet-
based digital system.

ISDN works on a high-speed internet option with the requirements

of a plain old telephone services (POTS) line, including an accessible
telephone number.

ILLUSTRATION  OF  ISDN

SWITCHED

USER 
ISDN USER
LINE ISDN PACKET
LINE

USER
PACKET LINE
USER  LINE
LINE

An illustration of ISDN

Differences between PSTN and ISDN

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PSTN
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2/3/23, 9:37 AM What is the difference between P.S.T.N and I.S.D.N?

1. It is analog in nature and came to light before ISDN.

Personalized 2. It functions basically for small franchises or companies.
Paths
3. Transfer speed is very slow and only voice transmission is
allowed.
Projects
4. It does allow simultaneous line connections, so just a single line
can be used here.
Skill Paths 5. End-to-end connection is not possible here. It’s impossible to
make fast calls with PSTN.

Assessments
I.S.D.N
1. Digital in nature and came into the communication scene
around 1960.
2. It is used mainly for big companies.
3. The data speed here is very fast. Circuit-switching operation
makes data and voice transmission possible.
4. Allows simultaneous line connection and can run 10-30 line
connections at a time.
5. End-to-end connection is possible here, so this makes phone
calls a possibility.

R E L AT E D TA G S

telecommunication network communitycreator

CONTRIBUTOR

ACHONWA ALVAN

License: Creative Commons-Attribution-ShareAlike

4.0 (CC-BY-SA 4.0)

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