CHAPTER 6

TELEPHONE TRANSMISSION

6.1 Telephone Instrument

The input–output device that provides the human interface with the telephone net-
work is the telephone instrument. It converts sound energy into electrical energy
and vice versa. The degree of efficiency and fidelity with which it performs these
functions has a vital effect upon the quality of telephone service provided. The tele-
phone set consists of transmitter, receiver, electric network for equalization, side tone
circuitry, and devices for signaling and supervision.
The transmitter (mouth piece) converts acoustic energy into electric energy by
means of a carbon granules transmitter. The transmitter requires a d.c. potential
usually on the order of 3 − 5 volts across its electrodes. It is called a talk battery,
and it is supplied over the line (central battery) from the switch. Current from the
battery flows through the carbon granules when the telephone is lifted its earphone
(off-hook). When sound hits on the diaphragm of the transmitter. Variations of
air pressure are transferred to the carbon, and the resistance of the electrical path
through the carbon changes in proportion to the pressure. Frequency response of
carbon transmitter peaks between 800 and 1000 Hz.

Communication Systems I, First Edition. 119

By Osama A. Alkishriwo Copyright c 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
120 TELEPHONE TRANSMISSION

The receiver (ear piece) consists of a diaphragm of magnetic material placed in a

steady magnetic field supplied by a permanent and a varying magnetic field, caused
by the voice currents flowing through the voice coils. Such voice currents are alter-
nating in nature and originate at the far end telephone transmitter. These currents
cause the magnetic field of the receiver to alternately increase and decrease making
the diaphragm move and respond to the variations. As a result an acoustic pressure
wave is set up, reproducing the original sound wave from the distant telephone trans-
mitter. Side tone is the sound of the talker’s voice heard in his own receiver. Side
tone level must be controlled. When the level is high, the natural human reaction is
for the talker to lower his voice. Thus by regulating side tone, talker levels can be
regulated.

6.2 Telephone Cables

The propagation constant γ and characteristic impedance Z0 of a cable are given by,
p
γ = (R + jωL)(G + jωC) = α + jβ (6.1)
where,
α: is attenuation in nepers per unit length.
β: is phase shift in radian per unit length.

s
R + jωL
Z0 = (6.2)
G + jωC

For a distortion less line, we have

√
α= RG + constant, i.e. independent of frequency
√
r
L
β = ω LC, Z0 = pure resistance
C
ω 1
vp = = √ = phase velocity = constant independent of frequency
β LC
dω 1
vg = =√ = vp = group velocity
dβ LC
For telephone cables where operating frequencies ranges from 300 Hz to 3.4 kHz,
we have ω << LR and G << ωC. Thus,
s
R R −jπ/4
Z0 = = e (6.3)
jωC ωC

and
p √
γ= jωRC = ωRCejπ/4 = α + jβ (6.4)
 TELEPHONE CABLES 121

Hence,
r r
ωRC ωRC
α= and β = (6.5)
2 2
We observe that α and β are functions of frequency, the phase velocity is given
by,
r
ω 2ω
vp = = (6.6)
β RC
Twisted pair are commonly used in telephone transmission. A cable pair is made
by twisting together. Two insulated conductors usually of high purity copper. The
sizes of the cables are 6 to 900 pairs. The commonly used wire gauges and their
parameters is shown in Table 6.1.

Table 6.1 Widely used wire gauges.

American Wire Gauge (AWG) Diameter (mm) Resistance R (Ω/km) 20o C
19 0.9116 26.39
22 0.6439 52.95
24 0.5105 84.22
26 0.4049 133.9

AWG 16 is rarely used. Its diameter is 1.291 mm and R = 13.18 Ω/km. The pri-
mary constant of twisted pair cable is subject to manufacturing deviation, and change
with the physical environment such as temperature, moisture, and mechanical stress.
L is in the range of 0.625 mH/km and C is in the range of 0.041 to 0.052 µF/km.

Figure 6.1 Attenuation characteristics for 3.6 km of 26 gauge cable.

1. Loading
From the equation of the attenuation of cable, and typical values for the primary
constants shows that substantial reduction of attenuation can be obtained by
increasing the value of L. Minimum attenuation requires a value of L nearly
122 TELEPHONE TRANSMISSION

100 times the value obtained in ordinary twisted pair. The realization of such
a value on a uniformly distributed basis is impractical. Instead, the desired
effect is obtained by “lumped” loading that is, by inserting series inductance
periodically along the pair.
Loading arrangement, are specified by a code letter designating the distance
between loading coils and by numbers which indicate the inductance value and
wire gauge. For example, the designation of one loading arrangement is 19H88.
The number 19 specifies 19 gauge wire, H indicates the spacing between coils,
the number 88 refers to the inductance in millie henries of the coils. The code
for load coil spacing are given in the following Table 6.2.

Table 6.2 Loading coil codes.

Code letter Spacing (meters)
A 213.5
B 915
C 283.3
D 1372.5
E 1700.4
F 850
H 1830
X 207.4
Y 649.6

The improvement obtainable in the attenuation characteristic with loading is

shown in Fig. 6.1. Some properties of cable conductors are given in Table 6.3.

Table 6.3 Properties of cable conductors.

AWG Diameter Mutual Type Loop Attenuation
No. (mm) capacitance (nF/km) of loading resistance Ω/km at 1000 Hz (dB/km)
40 None 270 1.61
26 0.405 40 H66 273 1.25
40 H88 274 1.09
40 None 170 1.27
24 0.511 40 H66 173 0.79
40 H88 174 0.69
40 None 107 1.01
22 0.644 40 H66 110 0.5
40 H88 111 0.44
40 None 53 0.71
19 0.91 50 H66 56 0.29
50 H88 57 0.26
 TECHNICAL PARAMETERS OF A TELEPHONE CHANNEL 123

2. Bridged Taps
Bridged taps are frequently used in cables serving customer locations. This
consists of another pair of wires which are connected in shunt to the main cable
pair at any point along its length. This pair may or may not be used at some
future time. In any case only of the pairs going away from the bridging point is
likely to be used at any given time. Figure 6.2 illustrates this bridged taps.

Figure 6.2 Bridged tap.

6.3 Technical Parameters of a Telephone Channel

The telephone channel may be described technically using the following parameters,

Nominal bandwidth

Attenuation distortion (frequency response)

Phase shift

Noise and signal to noise ratio

Level

Other parameters such as return loss, singing, stability, echo, reference equivalent,
· · · deals more with the voice channel in a network, which is outside the scope of this
section.

1. Bandwidth
The nominal bandwidth of a voice channel is often 4 kHz. The actual usable
bandwidth is from 300 Hz to 3400 Hz. Thus filters, attenuators, amplifiers
used to pass this voice signal should have a 3 dB bandwidth between 300 Hz
to 3400 Hz.

2. Attenuation distortion
Output signal from the channel is distorted in some manner such that it is not
an exact replica of the input. One form of distortion is called attenuation (am-
plitude) distortion. That is the amplitude response of the channel is not constant
within the pass band of the channel. To avoid attenuation distortion, an ampli-
tude equalizer is used such that all frequencies within the passband should be
124 TELEPHONE TRANSMISSION

subjected to the same loss (or gain). On typical wire systems higher frequencies
in the passband are attenuated more than lower ones.
In carrier equipment the filters used tend to attenuate frequencies around band
center the least, and attenuation increase as the band edges are approached as
shown in Fig. 6.3.

Figure 6.3 Typical attenuation distortion curve for a voice channel.

The crosshatched area in Fig. 6.3 expresses the specified limits of attenuation
distortion, and the solid line shows measured distortion on typical carrier equip-
ment for the channel band. Attenuation distortion across the voice channel is
measured compared to a reference frequency. ITU specifies the reference fre-
quency at 800 Hz. However, 1000 Hz is used in USA.

3. Phase shift (envelope delay distortion)

A voice channel can be as a bandpass filter. A signal takes a finite time to pass
through the filter. This time is a function of the velocity of propagation. The
velocity of propagation tends to vary with frequency, increasing toward band
center and decreasing toward band edge. Absolute delay is the delay a signal
experiences passing through the channel at a reference frequency. But we see
that the propagation time is different for different frequencies. This is equivalent
to phase shift. If the phase shift changes uniformly.
With frequency, the output signal will be a perfect replica of the input and there
will be no distortions whereas if the phase shift is not linear with frequency the
output signal will be distorted (phase or delay distortion). Delay distortion is
usually expressed in milliseconds or microseconds about a reference frequency.
Other names of this distortion are envelope delay distortion and group delay.

4. Level
Level is an important system parameter. If levels are maintained at too high
a point, amplifiers become over loaded, with resulting increases in intermod-
ulation products or crosstalk. If levels are too low, customer satisfaction may
suffer. The signal level is given in dBm or dBW , the signal level is measured
at the test level point a OTLP (zero test level point) is a location in a circuit
or system at which a specified test tone level is expected during alignment. A
OTLP is a point at which the test tone level should be 0 dBm.
 TECHNICAL PARAMETERS OF A TELEPHONE CHANNEL 125

5. Noise and SNR

Noise in its broadest definition, consists of any undesired signal in a communi-
cation system performance. Noise may be divided into four categories

Thermal noise
Intermodulation noise
Cross talk
Impulse noise

Thermal Noise
Thermal noise is noise based on thermal agitation. It is a white noise, and
it is directly proportional to bandwidth and temperature, and noise figure of
the system. Thus,

Pn = kT BF (6.7)

where,
k: is Boltzman constant = 1.38 × l0−23
T : is temperature in kelven
B: is bandwidth in Hz
F : is noise figure
Intermodulation Noise
Intermodulation noise is the result of the presence of intermodulation prod-
ucts. Passing two signals with frequencies f1 and f2 through a nonlinear
device or medium, intermediation products which are spurious frequencies
will be produced. These frequencies may be present either inside or outside
the band of interest. The resulting products are,
– Second order products f1 ± f2
– Third order products f1 ± 2f2 ; 2f1 ± f2
– Fourth order products 2f1 ± 2f2 ; 3f1 ± f2
Intermodulation noise may result from a number of causes:
– Improper level setting. Too high level input to a device drives it
into its nonlinear operating region
– Improper alignment causing a device to function non linearly.
– Non linear envelope delay.
Cross talk
Cross talk refers to unwanted coupling between signal paths. There are three
causes of cross talk
– Electrical coupling between transmission media, e.g. between wire
pairs.
– Poor control of frequency response (defective filters or poor filter
design).
126 TELEPHONE TRANSMISSION

– Nonlinearly performance in FDM multiplex systems.

Cross talk is categorized into two types,
– Intelligible cross talk: at least four words are intelligible to the
listener from extraneous conversation in a 7 second period.
– Unintelligible crosstalk: any other form of disturbing effect of one
channel upon another.
Impulse noise
This type of noise is non-continuous, consisting of irregular pulses or noise
spikes of short duration and of relatively high amplitude. Impulse noise de-
grades voice telephony only marginally if at all. However, it may seriously
degrade the error rate on a data transmission circuit.

6.4 Telephone Network

Subscribers within a reasonable distance of one to another can be interconnected by

wire lines and we can still expect satisfactory communication. A switch is used so
a subscriber can speak with some other discrete subscriber as he choose. As we
extend the network to include more subscribers and circumscribe a wider area, two
technical/economic factors have to be taken into account.

More than one switch must be used.

Wire pair transmission losses on longer circuits must be offset by amplifiers or

the pairs must be replaced by others which are more efficient.

6.4.1 Local Loop

The subscriber loop connects a subscriber telephone subset with a local switch or
exchange as shown in Fig. 6.4.

Figure 6.4 Subscriber loop.

It is desirable from an economic point of view to permit subscriber loop lengths to

be as long as possible. Thus the subscriber area served by a single switching center
may be much larger. As a consequence, the total number of switches may be reduced
to minimum. For example, if loops were limited to 4 km length, a local exchange or
switch could serve all subscribers within a radius of about 4 km. If 10 km were the
 TELEPHONE NETWORK 127

maximum loop length, the radius of an equivalent area that one switch could serve
would be extended an additional 6 km out to a total of nearly 10 km.
The two basic criteria that must be considered when designing subscriber loops,
and which limit their length are,
signaling limits (obtained from resistance designs).
Attenuation limits (obtained from transmission design, taking into considera-
tion loop loss in dB at 800 Hz for Europe and many other parts of the world, or
1000 Hz for USA).

1. Resistance design

Figure 6.5 Subscriber loop design.

The distance D is the loop length.

The loop resistance limit depends on the type of switch used. Some switches
may accept up to 1300 Ω other up to 1800 Ω. Then from Fig. 6.5 subtract 50 Ω
nominal resistance for the telephone subset in series with the loop, leaving us
with a 1250 Ω limit for the wire pair (bridge resistance disregarded).
The de loop resistance for copper conductors is given by,
0.1095
Rdc = Ω/mile, where d diameter of the conductor in inches (6.8)
d2
or
0.1095 70.3
Rdc = = 2 Ω/mile, where d in mm (6.9)
(d/25.34)2 d
Since, 1 mile= 1.6 km, then
70.3 43.92
Rdc = 2
= Ω/km, where d in mm (6.10)
1.6 × d d2

The signaling limit of the loop (D) is given by,

Switch resistance limit
Ds = (6.11)
Loop resistance according to the gauge selected
128 TELEPHONE TRANSMISSION

EXAMPLE 6.1

Calculate the signaling loop limit for 26 gauge and 19 gauge loops, if
switch limit is 1250 Ω.

SOLUTION
For 26 gauge d = 0.4049 mm. Thus,
43.92
Rdc = = 267.8 Ω/km
(0.4049)2
Thus,
1250
D= = 4.67 km
267.8
For 19 gauge d = 0.9116 mm. Thus,
43.92
Rdc = = 52.85 Ω/km
(0.9116)2
Thus,
1250
D= = 23.65 km
52.85
We see that signaling loop limit for 19 gauge is about 5 times longer than
for 26 gauge.

2. Transmission design
The attenuation limit is taken from the national transmission plan. The attenu-
ation of a wire pair used on a subscriber loop varies with frequency, resistance,
inductance, capacitance, and leakage conductance. Resistance of the line will
depend on temperature, so for open wire lines, attenuation may vary ±12% be-
tween winter and summer conditions. For burred cable loss variation due to
temperature are much less.
Maximum permissible loop length for transmission design is given by,
Attenuation limit in dB
DT = (6.12)
Loop attenuation loss (dB/km)

EXAMPLE 6.2

Calculate the transmission loop limit of 26 gauge and 19 gauge loop, if

attenuation limit is 6 dB.

SOLUTION
For 26 gauge loop attenuation is 1.61 dB/km (from previous table). Thus,
6
DT = = 3.73 km
1.61
 TELEPHONE NETWORK 129

Figure 6.6 Transmission design.

For 19 gauge, loop attenuation is 0.71 dB/km

6
DT = = 8.45 km
0.71
Thus the loop limit for 19 gauge wire is more than twice of that of 26 gauge
wire.

The maximum loop length is taken to be the minimum of signaling loop limit and
transmission loop limit,

D = min{Ds , DT } km (6.13)

From the above two examples, the maximum loop length is given by,

For 26 gauge loop D = min{4.67, 3.73} = 3.73 km

For 19 gauge loop D = min{23.65, 8.45} = 8.45 km

6.4.2 Local Network

Local network consists of one local exchange connected to many subscribers tele-
phone sets in a given area as shown below

Figure 6.7 Local network.

This area is called single exchange area. The covered area is limited by the maxi-
mum loop length. To distribute the telephone network all over the area, the local ex-
change is connected to distribution tanks distributed uniformly around the exchange,
130 TELEPHONE TRANSMISSION

by primary cables. These primary cables are multi pair cables, and are connected
from these distribution tanks to distribution boards, and smaller size cables are con-
nected from these distribution boards to smaller distribution boards of sizes around
10 lines which then distributed to the nearby subscribers locations as shown in Fig.
6.8.

Figure 6.8 Telephone network distribution (single exchange).

6.4.3 Multi Exchange Area Network

Multi exchange area network consists of more than one exchange, each exchange
has its own local network as shown above, and these exchanges are interconnected
by 4 wire trunks as shown in Fig. 6.9.

Figure 6.9 4-wire trunks between LEs.

The multi exchange network can be as shown in Fig. 6.10 below

Connection between A and B is possible through direct trunks between 1 and
3 or indirectly through 2 or 4. Tandem exchange can be added as an alternative
path between local exchanges with no subscriber connected to this tandem exchange.
 TELEPHONE NETWORK 131

Figure 6.10 Multi exchange area network.

Transit exchange is used as a connecting mean between local exchanges in an area

or region to other local exchanges in another cities.
A possible layout of loops and trunks in part of an exchange area is shown in Fig.
6.11.
Thus, the types of exchanges which form a hierarchy of the telephone network
are
1. Local exchange (LE)
2. Transit group switching centers (GSCs)
3. Regional transit exchanges (RTE)
4. National transit exchanges (NTE)
5. International transit exchanges (lTE)
The Hierarchy level is shown in Fig. 6.12.
For Libya the following Hierarchy of exchanges are available,
1. Two national transit exchanges (NTE): one in Tripoli and one in Benghazi.
2. Three regional transit exchanges (RTE): in Gharian, Misurata, and Derna in
addition to the Tripoli and Benghazi ones where the NTE serve also as RTEs
for their own zones.
3. Twelve group switching centers (GSCs) (in addition to 5 NTE/RTE about which
function also as GSCs for their own areas.
These exchanges are connected by hierarchy as shown in Fig. 6.13. There is a
proposal to add two GSC one in Yafrin and one in Zeletin.
132 TELEPHONE TRANSMISSION

Figure 6.11 Possible layout of an exchange area.

6.5 The Reference Equivalent

Subscriber satisfaction is affected by the following regarding the received telephone

signal,
Level
Signal to noise ratio
Response or attenuation frequency characteristic
A common rating system in use today to grade customer satisfaction is the ref-
erence equivalent system. This system considers only the first criterion mentioned
above, namely, level. It must be emphasized that subscriber satisfaction is subjective
i.e. by taking the opinion of different customers according to certain procedure and
criteria.
Type tests are run on subscriber subsets or on the subset plus a fixed length of
subscriber loop of known characteristics. These are subjective tests carried out in a
laboratory to establish the reference standard,
The microphone or transmitter is rated as transmit reference equivalent (TRE).
The earpiece or receiver is rated as receive reference equivalent (RRE).
Consider the following simplified telephone network. The over reference equiva-
lent for this circuit is 26 dB including 0.5 dB loss for each switch, and the trunk loss
 THE REFERENCE EQUIVALENT 133

Figure 6.12 Hierarchy of exchanges.

between the switches. The circuit shown in Fig. 6.14 may be called a small trans-
mission plan. We can define a transmission plan as a method of assigning losses end
to end on a telephone circuit. The reference equivalent is a handy device to rate such
a plan regarding subscriber satisfaction.
When studying transmission plans or developing them, we usually consider that
all sections of a circuit in a plan are symmetrical. To maintain this symmetry re-
garding reference equivalent of telephone subsets we use the term (T + R)/2, i.e.
(T RE + RRE)/2 as a symmetric circuit as given in Fig. 6.15.
Table 6.4 gives reference equivalents for subscriber sets in some countries

Table 6.4 Some reference equivalent.

Country TRE (dB) RRE (dB)
France 11 7
Germany 11 2
Netherland 17 4
United Kingdom 12 1
Japan 7 1

Thus ITU recommendation G121, states that the reference equivalent from the
subscriber set to an international connection should not exceed 20.8 dB (TRE),
and to the subscriber set at the other end from the same point of reference (RRE)
should not exceed 12.2 dB (Note: the intervening losses already are included in
these figures). By adding 12.2 and 20.8, we find 33 dB to be the overall refer-
134 TELEPHONE TRANSMISSION

Figure 6.13 Three level transit exchanges (in Libya).

Figure 6.14 Simplified telephone network.

ence equivalent (ORE) recommended as a maximum for an international connec-

tion. ITU recommends that telephone companies should attempt to lower this figure
as much as possible to improve subscriber satisfaction. A good target would be an
6 ≤ ORE ≤ 20 dB. Percentage of unsatisfactory calls versus the overall reference
equivalent (ORE) obtained through survey conducted by British post office given in
Table 6.5.
We observe from Table 6.5 that the 33 dB ORE discussed above is unsatisfactory
for more than 10% of calls. Therefore the tendency in many telephone administra-
tions is to reduce this figure as much as possible. But this process is difficult and is
costly.
 TWO WIRE AND FOUR WIRE TRANSMISSION 135

Figure 6.15 Symmetric circuit plan.

Table 6.5 Percentage of unsatisfactory calls versus ORE.

Overall reference equivalent ORE (dB) % of unsatisfactory calls
40 33.6
36 18.9
32 9.7
28 4.2
24 1.7
20 0.67
16 0.228

6.6 Two Wire and Four Wire Transmission

1. Two–wire transmission
A telephone conversation requires transmission in both directions when both
directions are carried on the same wire pair; we call it two wire transmission.
The telephones in our home and office are connected to a local exchange by
means of two wire circuit.
2. Four–wire transmission
Carrier and radio systems require that oppositely directed portions of a single
conversation occur over separate transmission channels or paths (or using mutu-
ally exclusive time slots). Thus we have two wires for the transmit path and two
wires for the receive path or a total of four for a full duplex (two way) telephone
conversation.
For almost all operational telephone systems, the end instrument is con-
nected to its intervening network on a two wire bases.
Nearly all long distance telephone connection transverse four wire links.
From the near and user, and the far end user, the connection to the long
distance network is two wire as shown in Fig. 6.16.
3. VF repeaters
Voice frequency VF repeaters in telephony imply the use of unidirectional am-
plifiers at voice frequency on VF trunks. On a two wire trunk two amplifiers
must be used on each pair with a hybrid in and a hybrid out, as shown in Fig.
6.17
The gain of VF repeater can be run up as high as 20 or 25 dB, and previously
they were used on 80 km, 19 gauge loaded cable in the long distance network.
136 TELEPHONE TRANSMISSION

Figure 6.16 A typical long distance telephone connection.

Figure 6.17 Simplified block diagram of a VF repeater.

Today they are seldom found in long distance circuits but do have application on
local trunk circuit where the gain requirement is considerably less. ln practice a
repeater is installed at each end of the trunk circuit to simplify maintenance and
power feeding. Gain may be as high as 6 − 8 dB.

6.7 ITU (CCITT) Interface

To facilitate satisfactory communication between telephone subscribers in different

countries, the ITU has established certain transmission criteria in the form of rec-
ommendations. According to ITU-T a connection is satisfactory if it meets certain
criteria for the following,
Reference equivalent
Noise
Echo
Singing
a brief description of these criteria is given below.
1. Maximum number of circuits in tandem
A call must be limited from local exchange (origin) to local exchange (des-
tination) to have no more than 14 links in tandem, of which four may be in
the country of origin, and four in the country of destination)). The number of
 ITU (CCITT) INTERFACE 137

links are limited to assure maintenance of limits of noise, stability and reference
equivalent. Also, in a national chain the number of links are also limited. If the
average distance to a subscriber is 1000 km from the international interface,
at most three national four-wire circuits can be connected on a four wire bases
between each other.
But in countries that have average distances to subscribers in excess of 1000 km
a fourth or possibly a fifth national circuit may be added on a four wire basis.
Figure 6.18 below illustrate the case.

Figure 6.18 ITU-T international telephone connection with national extensions.

2. Noise
CCITT recommendation G103 treats noise. It equates noise to length of a cir-
cuit. This is equated at the rate of 4 pW p/km. Absolute noise maximum on
the receive side of an international connection should not exceed 50, 000 pwp
referred to a zero relative level point of the first circuit in the chain (Rec. G143).
This maximum noise level is permissible if there are six international circuits in
tandem.

3. Variation of transmission loss with time

This important parameter affects stability; ITU recommendation G151C states
that the standard deviation of the variation in transmission loss of a circuit
138 TELEPHONE TRANSMISSION

should not exceed 1 dB. The difference between the mean value and the nomi-
nal value of the transmission loss for each circuit should not exceed 0.5 dB.

4. Crosstalk (CCITT Recommendation G151D)

The near end and far end crosstalk (intelligible cross talk only) measure at audio
frequency at trunk exchanges between two complete circuits in terminal service
position should not numerically be less than 58 dB. Between “go” and “re-
turn” paths of the same circuit in a four wire long distance exchange intelligible
crosstalk should be at least 43 dB down.

5. Attenuation
The worst condition for attenuation distortion is shown in Fig. 6.19. It assumes
that the nominal 4 kHz voice channel is used straight through. Note that the
slope from 300 to 600 Hz, and from 2400 to 3400 is approximately 6.5 dB. The
attenuation within the band 600 Hz to 2400 Hz may vary ±2.2 dB maximum
with respect to that at 800 Hz reference signal. Within the band 400 to 600 Hz
and 2400 to 3000 Hz the attenuation variation as maximum is between −2.2 dB
and +4.3 dB with respect to the reference signal at 800 , or in general the
attenuation variation between 300 Hz to 3400 Hz is between −2.2 to 8.7 dB
as maximum.

Figure 6.19 Permissible attenuation variation with respect to its value measured at 800 Hz,
for 4-wire circuits.

5. Reference equivalent
According to CCITT recommendation Q111, ”for 97% of the connections made
in a country of size 1000 km average distance to international exchange the
nominal reference equivalent between a subscriber and the 4-wire terminals
of the international circuit (international interface) should not exceed 20.8 dB
sending and 12.2 dB receiving; this gives an ORE of 33 dB. It is recommended
that telephone companies and administrations attempt to lower this figure as
much as possible to improve subscriber satisfaction. A good target would be an
ORE from a low of 6 dB to a maximum of 20 dB.
 ITU (CCITT) INTERFACE 139

5. Propagation time
The propagation time at 800 Hz of the national sending or receiving system
should not exceed 50 msec (CClTT recommendation G114).
5. Echo suppression
Echo suppressors should be used on all connections where the round trip delay
(propagation time) exceeds 50 msec.