POP
(POP3)
1. Post Office Protocol
An Internet protocol used to download messages from an email server to an email client (usually email software running on a PC or mobile device).
POP3 is the most common email-downloading protocol. IMAP is a newer alternative to POP, and there are proprietary protocols as well, such as Outlook/Exchange and BlackBerry.
See: IMAP
2. An abbreviation for "population". To say that a radio network or license covers "10 million POPs" means that 10 million people live within the geographic area covered by that network or license.
Last updated Aug 20, 2019 by Rich Brome
Editor in Chief Rich became fascinated with cell phones in 1999, creating mobile web sites for phones with tiny black-and-white displays and obsessing over new phone models. Realizing a need for better info about phones, he started Phone Scoop in 2001, and has been helming the site ever since. Rich has spent two decades researching and covering every detail of the phone industry, traveling the world to tour factories, interview CEOs, and get every last spec and photo Phone Scoop readers have come to expect. As an industry veteran, Rich is a respected voice on phone technology of the past, present, and future.
