0-9  A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z E-1 E-1 is the European standard for T1. E1 has 2.108 megabits, with 30 channels for voice, data, and video. E-3 The European standard for T3. E3 has a speed of 34,368 megabits, with 480 channels. It is equivalent to 16 E1s. e-business applications Computer programs that enable inter-organizational processes. These applications may use the Internet or a private communications network to share the information. e-commerce Commercial transactions that occur over some electronic medium, most commonly the Web. earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) EBIT is a financial measure often used to gauge the financial performance of companies with high levels of debt and interest expenses. Whereas it provides another available comparison in multiples analysis, the flexibility in choosing depreciation and amortization methodologies result in potential manipulation of the numbers. Defined as revenues less cost of goods sold, selling, general, and administrative expenses, and depreciation and amortization. In other words, operating and non-operating profits before the deduction of interest and income taxes. Also called Operating Income. earnings before interest, taxes and amortization See EBIT and EBITDA earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) A financial measure used as a proxy for the cash available to pay interest and taxes, which are important obligations to be met for a company to continue its operations. Thus, it is especially useful for companies with high debt levels to evaluate the company's interest coverage ability. Defined as revenue less cost of goods sold and selling, general, and administrative expenses. Also known as "operating cash flow." earnings per share (EPS) The portion of a company's profit allocated to each outstanding share of common stock. For instance, corporation that earned $10 million last year and has 10 million shares outstanding would report earnings of $1 per share. As of 1998, corporations must report EPS on two bases basic earnings per share (excluding options outstanding) and diluted earnings per share (including options outstanding). EBITDA multiples This calculation is useful for technology companies that are EBITDA positive but earnings negative. Calculated as enterprise value divided by forward EBITDA. In calculating enterprise value, we add the market value of equity to the market value of net debt; the book value of debt is often used a proxy for the market value of debt when trading values of debt are not readily available. EBITDA to 5-Year CAGR ratio The ratio between EBITDA multiple and the 5-year EBITDA CAGR of a company, which is often used for comparing comparable companies. Technology companies with negative EBITDA figures may require the use of forward EBITDA numbers in the calculation. The EBITDA/5-Year CAGR may be a useful alternative to PE/Long-term-growth-rate, since EBITDA provides a cleaner perspective (e.g. excluding M&A related amortization) on earnings while the 5-year growth number captures the growth potential of a start-up company. economies of scale The economic principle that as the volume of production increases, the cost of producing each unit decreases. Therefore, building a large factory will be more efficient than a small factor because the large factory will be able to produce more units at a lower cost per unit than the smaller factory. (Barron's Dictionary of Financial and Investment Terms, 1998) edge router Routers placed at the edge of service provider networks aggregating mostly IP traffic up to core networks. electroabsorption-modulated laser (EML) An electroabsorption-modulated laser combines in one chip a continuously operating distributed-feedback laser and an electroabsorptive optical modulator. electroabsorption modulator (EAM) One technology used to put an electrical signal onto a beam of light by selectively interrupting it. Another widely used modulation technology uses the material lithium niobate. Electronic Bellcore Administrative Format (EBAF)   electronic data interchange (EDI) One standard of electronic communication between organizations for business transactions, such as purchase orders and invoices. Third party resources provide EDI services that make it possible for organizations with different equipment to connect. electronic data interchange for administration commerce and transport (EDIFACT) A popular standard for EDItransactions in Europe. elliptic-curve cryptography (ECC) A public-key cryptography method that provides fast decryption and digital-signature processing. ECC uses points on an elliptic curve to derive a 163-bit public key that is equivalent in strength to a 1024-bit RSA key. The public key is created by agreeing on a standard generator point in an elliptic-curve group (elliptic-curve mathematics is a branch of number theory) and multiplying that point by a random number (the private key). Although the starting point and public key are known, it is extremely difficult to backtrack and derive the private key. encoder (ADC) A device that converts an analog signal to a digital signal that represents equivalent information. encryption A security algorithm that turns data into secret code. Each algorithm uses a string of bits known as a "key" to perform the calculations. The larger the key (the more bits in the key), the greater the number of potential patterns can be created, thus making it harder to break the code and descramble the contents. enhanced data for GSM evolution (EDGE) An enhancement to the GSM- and TDMA-based communications that increases data throughput to 384 Kbps. enterprise asset maintenance (EAM) The process of maintaining stocks and reordering supplies in consumable products used in the maintenance of plant equipment and facilities. enterprise resource planning (ERP) Refers to the information systems that integrate all departments within an enterprise. ERP solutions may include back-office functionality software for order entry, purchasing, warehousing, transportation, accounts payable and receivable, manufacturing and human resources. enterprise router Network equipment that directs traffic between enterprise LANs and service provider networks. enterprise systems connection (ESCON) A duplex optical connector used for computer-to-computer data exchange. enterprise value (or total market capitalization) This is the most appropriate measure when a company has a significant amount of cash or debt, as it reflects the total capitalization. In general, this result is the most accurate way to assess the total value of a company's ongoing operations without respect to its capital structure. Calculated by adding net debt to equity market capitalization, which is the total dollar value of a firm's equity as determined by multiplying its market price by its outstanding common stock. Net debt is defined as the sum of total debt, preferred stock and minority interest, minus cash. EPOC A 32-bit operating system developed by Symbian and used primarily on data-capable cellular phones. EPOC has customizable user interfaces, color support, application suites, Internet connectivity, software development kits, and PC connectivity software. equity market capitalization Signifies the total dollar value of a firm's equity (all outstanding common shares) and is a measure of the market's valuation of a public company as determined by the market price of its issued and outstanding common stock. This method of valuation is appropriate for many technology companies whose cash and debt balances are not significant. For companies or industry sectors in which large cash balances or debt is common, a more complete and accurate measure of a company's total worth is enterprise value. Equity market capitalization is calculated by multiplying the number of common shares outstanding by the current stock price. The number of commons shares outstanding may be adjusted upward to reflect the treasury stock method, which assumes that the proceeds from exercising options or warrants are used to repurchase common stock (which by definition becomes "treasury stock"). This assumes that the company is motivated to reduce the dilutive impact of the options exercise using a stock buy-back. erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA) EDFAs allow the simultaneous amplification of multiple signals in the 15xx-nm region (for example, multiple 2.5-Gbps channels in the optical domain). EDFAs increase the spacing required between regenerators and are capable of amplifying signals at many wavelengths simultaneously. EDFAs are a key enabling technology of DWDM . Regenerators are a costly network element because they require optical/electrical/optical conversion of a signal and operate on a single digital signal (for example, a single SONET or SDH optical signal). DWDM systems using EDFAs can increase regenerator spacing of transmissions to 500-to-800 kilometers at 2.5 Gbps. EDFAs are far less expensive than regenerators and can typically be spaced 80-to-120 kilometers apart at 2.5 Gbps, depending on the quality of the fiber plant and the design goals of the DWDM system. Ethernet Both physical link and/or protocol used in LAN or interconnecting LANs. Ethernet switch A switch with Ethernet interfaces that directs IP traffic across enterprise LANs predominantly, and increasingly in service provider MANs and WANs. European digital signal-1 (E1) Comparable to the U.S. standard T1. The E1 transmission rate is 2.048 Mbps versus 1.544 Mbps for T1. European digital signal-3 (E3) Carries 16 E1s. The effective data rate is 34.368 Mbps. expected risk premium The reward for holding a risky investment rather than a risk-free one (e.g., a treasury bill). That is, investments with a beta greater than 1 are expected to have expected returns greater than that of a treasury bill. extensible hypertext markup language (XHTMLA) hybrid scripting language that enables users to incorporate XML elements into HTML-designed Web pages. XHTML is a reformulation of HTML 4.0 as an XML 1.0 application. See HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). extensible markup language (XML) The universal format for structured documents and data on the web. For a great introduction, see XML in 10 Points or the World Wide Web Consortium. external modulator products At very high speeds, it becomes difficult to directly modulate a laser and still achieve long distance transmission. Typical 10 Gigabit Telephony signals (SONET OC-192) will use a laser as a continuous light source that is fed into an external optoelectronic modulator, such as a Mach-Zender or Electro-Absorption Modulator. If only short transmission distances (probably less than 15 km) are required, direct modulation at 10 Gigabits is possible.