The structure of binary (SiO 2 ) 100-x −(P 2 O 5 ) x glasses has been investigated by Raman scattering, 29 Si and 31 P magic angle spinning (MAS) as well as static 31 P NMR spectroscopy. 29 Si chemical shift trends reflect the successive replacement of Si−O−Si by Si−O−P linkages as the compositional parameter x is increased. While 31 P MAS NMR does not resolve separate phosphate species, the static 31 P NMR lineshapes were successfully simulated by considering the effect of uncorrelated distribution functions of the chemical shift tensor components upon the line shape. On the basis of these simulations, which were also found to be consistent with the experimental 31 P MAS NMR spectra, two distinct sites can be resolved: a dominant site characterized by an axially symmetric chemical shift tensor, assigned to P (3) units, and (only in the case of the x = 25 and 30 glasses) a Gaussian component reflecting phosphate species interacting with fiveand six-coordinated silicon species. For 0 ≤ x < 25, the decrease in average coordination number may provide the structural explanation for the strong decrease in the glass transition and liquidus temperatures over this composition range, whereas the subsequent increase in T g at higher P 2 O 5 contents is correlated with the appearance of the higher-coordinated silicon species. While these higher-coordinated silicon species occur within separate microdomains, 31 P spin echo decay spectroscopy suggests that the majority of P atoms tend to be randomly distributed in space, consistent with a statistical P−O−P, Si−O−P, and Si−O−Si connectivity distribution.