The definition of "tele" is to or at a distance. Telecommunication is basically communicating from a distance. It could be said that man has been telecommunicating for millennia, whether by drums, smoke, voice (yelling), telegraph, telephone or through the Internet, it is all a form of remote communication, or telecommunication. The modern idea is the technology associated, in general, with communications at a distance. A telecommunications system requires an analog or digital transmitter, a compatible receiver, and a physical (cable or wire) or non-physical (wireless) connection.