Telco stands for telephone company and can be one of the following:

• A local provider of a Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) connection through the local loop connection from its central office (CO)
• Any telecommunications service provider (including long-distance carriers)

Telcos offer a variety of high-speed data transmission services, including Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), frame relay, T1 lines, and Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL). Networks connect their customer premises equipment (CPE) to similar equipment at telco COs for such purposes as

• Point-to-point or multipoint connections for creating a wide area network (WAN) with other company locations
• High-speed dedicated access to the Internet for corporate users
• Dial-up remote access solutions using modems or ISDN