MOSES LAKE - Students still can register for a Big Bend Community College series that teaches the basics of communication technology. The electronic communications class begins when winter quarter opens Jan. 6.

Students enrolling in the course must have a qualifying prerequisite course in communications, or advance permission from instructor Steve Matern, college spokesperson Doug Sly said.

The class, the first in a three-part series, covers the basics of voice and data communication, department instructor James Ayers said. The class starts with radio and its applications, progresses to cellular and wireless applications, then to fiber optics systems, Ayers said.

The technology might be different, from two-way radio to cellphone to fiber connection, but they're all part of the bigger communications picture, Ayers said. "Each one enhances the other," he said.

Class participants will learn the scientific and technological concepts behind radios, wireless and cellular technology, and fiber optics (among others), and their applications in industry. Ayers said students will learn how systems are built, and how they're used.

Each class is five credits, Sly said, and is part of the college's Industrial Systems Technology program. Matern has a Federal Communications Commission license and INARTE (International Association for Radio, Telecommunications and Electromagnetics) industry certification, Sly said.

People who want more information or to learn more about prerequisites can contact Ayers, 509-793-2265, or Matern, 509-793-2266. Registration information is available through the registrar's office.