In telecommunication, a communications system is a collection of individual communications networks, transmission systems, relay stations, tributary stations, and data terminal equipment (DTE) usually capable of interconnection and interoperation to form an integrated whole. The components of a communications system serve a common purpose, are technically compatible, use common procedures, respond to controls, and operate in unison. Telecommunications is a method of communication (e.g., for sports broadcasting, mass media, journalism, etc.). A communications subsystem is a functional unit or operational assembly that is smaller than the larger assembly under consideration.

An optical communication system is any form of telecommunication that uses light as the transmission medium. Equipment consists of a transmitter, which encodes a message into an optical signal, a channel, which carries the signal to its destination, and a receiver, which reproduces the message from the received optical signal. Fiber-optic communication systems transmit information from one place to another by sending light through an optical fiber. The light forms an electromagnetic carrier wave that is modulated to carry information.