The Channels reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004
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Channels

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Channels in a telecommunications sense are typically described as separate frequency bands in a broadband medium.

The most ubiquitous broadband medium is the radio-frequency spectrum, with channels allocated by international agreement.

Examples include:

See broadband and baseband

Note that (2003) current usage in Internet parlance includes "channels" in Internet Relay Chat (IRC) which are named and based upon digital distinction as opposed to analog distinction.