A Multi-service access Node (MSAN) also known as a Multi-service access gateway (MSAG) is a device typically installed in a telephone exchange

Telephone exchange

In the field of telecommunications, a telephone exchange or telephone switch is a system of electronic components that connects telephone calls...

 (although sometimes in a roadside serving area interface

Serving area interface

The serving area interface or service area interface often called B-box, cross-connect box, cross box, ped , or access point is an outdoor telecommunications cabinet usually mounted on the ground on cable right-of-ways, but sometimes also on telephone poles...

 cabinet) which connects customers' telephone lines to the core network

Core network

A core network, or network core, is the central part of a telecommunication network that provides various services to customers who are connected by the access network. One of the main functions is to route telephone calls across the PSTN....

, to provide telephone

Telephone

The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...

, ISDN, and broadband

Broadband

The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...

 such as DSL all from a single platform.

Prior to the deployment of MSANs, telecom providers typically had a multitude of separate equipment including DSLAMs to provide the various types of services to customers. Integrating all services on a single node, which typically backhauls all data streams over IP

Internet Protocol

The Internet Protocol is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite...

 or Asynchronous Transfer Mode

Asynchronous Transfer Mode

Asynchronous Transfer Mode is a standard switching technique designed to unify telecommunication and computer networks. It uses asynchronous time-division multiplexing, and it encodes data into small, fixed-sized cells. This differs from approaches such as the Internet Protocol or Ethernet that...

 can be more cost effective and may provide new services to customers quicker than previously possible.

A typical outdoor MSAN cabinet consists of narrowBand (POTS

Plain old telephone service

Plain old telephone service is the voice-grade telephone service that remains the basic form of residential and small business service connection to the telephone network in many parts of the world....

), broadBand (xDSL) services, batteries with rectifiers, optical transmission

Fiber-optic communication

Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting information from one place to another by sending pulses of light through an optical fiber. The light forms an electromagnetic carrier wave that is modulated to carry information...

 unit and copper distribution frame

Distribution frame

In telecommunications, a distribution frame is a passive device which terminates cables, allowing arbitrary interconnections to be made.For example, the Main Distribution Frame located at a telephone central office terminates the cables leading to subscribers on the one hand, and cables leading to...

.