Forecasts Available for Local Exchange Circuit Equipment

AUSTIN, Dec. 5 -- The impact of new transmission technologies such as digital subscriber line and dense wave division multiplexing is the subject of a report sponsored by the Telecommunications Technology Forecasting Group, a consortium of telephone companies comprised of Bell Canada, BellSouth, Qwest, SBC Corp., Sprint and Verizon.

"Most of the improvements and upgrades to the telephone system are in electronic components associated with fiber or copper cable, not in the actual cable or in switching. This includes SONET upgrades, DWDM, and ADSL," said Ray Hodges, author of "Technology Forecasts for Local Exchange Circuit Equipment," published by Technology Futures Inc. "The fact that the circuit equipment account is growing by no means indicates that the equipment lives are stable or lengthening. The account is very dynamic, and every vintage of telephone plant technology
is rapidly made obsolete by continuous advances in electronic and optical innovations."

For information about the report, contact Debra Robison at pubsales@tfi.com.