pop

A point-of-presence (POP) is an artificial demarcation point or interface point between communications entities.

Telephone systems

In the USA, this term became important during the court-ordered breakup of the Bell Telephone system. A point of presence was a location where a long-distance carrier could terminate services and provide connections into a local telephone network.

Internet

An Internet point of presence is an access point to the Internet. It is a physical location that houses servers, routers, ATM switches and digital/analog call aggregators. It may be either part of the facilities of a telecommunications provider that the Internet service provider (ISP) rents or a location separate from the telecommunications provider. ISPs typically have multiple POPs, sometimes numbering in the thousands. POPs are also located in Internet exchange points and colocation centres.

Sometimes the term is used for an internet cafe in a franchising chain.

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