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 NEWS  News  media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Fax-  On-  Demand  202  /  418-  2830  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  ftp.  fcc.  gov  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974). 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE  NEWS  MEDIA  CONTACT: 
 October  23,  2000  Mike  Balmoris  at  (202)  418-  0253 
 Email:  mbalmori@  fcc.  gov 


 FCC  RELEASES  REPORT  ON  INFRASTRUCTURE 
 Washington,  D.  C.  –  The  FCC  has  released  a  report  entitled  Infrastructure  of  the  Local 
 Operating  Companies.  This  report  presents  data  that  highlights  the  development  of  switching  and 
 transmission  technologies  in  the  local  telephone  networks  over  the  period  1991  through  1999. 
 Included  in  the  report  are  data  on  company  switches  and  access  lines,  Signaling  System  7  and 
 Integrated  Services  Digital  Network  (ISDN)  capability,  as  well  as  fiber  optic  and  copper  facilities. 


 Among  the  key  observations  highlighted  in  the  report  is  the  fact  that  in  the  aggregate, 
 there  was  a  very  small  increase  (less  than  1%)  in  the  number  of  ISDN-  capable  switches  in  1999 
 following  a  15%  increase  in  1998  and  a  22%  increase  in  1997.  The  number  of  ISDN-  capable 
 switches  has  doubled  since  1994  and  has  gone  up  more  than  five-  fold  since  1991,  but  now  with 
 the  availability  of  xDSL  access  technologies,  ISDN  appears  to  be  growing  much  more  slowly. 
 In  addition,  as  of  the  end  of  1999  there  were  about  two  million  Bell  Operating  Company  (BOC) 
 fiber  central  office  loop  terminations.  Growth  of  these  terminations  was  about  21%  in  1998  as 
 compared  to  approximately  10%  in  1999.  Although  the  calculated  annual  growth  rate  of  fiber 
 terminations  tends  to  fluctuate,  there  are  indications  that  growth  of  fiber  in  the  local  loop  is  being 
 affected  by  competing  technologies  and  competitive  activity.  A  separate  report  released  in 
 August  2000  entitled  “Deployment  of  Advanced  Telecommunications  Capability  –  Second 
 Report”  (page  79)  provides  additional  information  relating  to  DSL  growth  rates  in  1999.  It 
 reported  growth  rates  of  more  than  50  percent  for  competitive  local  exchange  carriers  and  more 
 than  25  percent  for  incumbent  local  exchange  carriers. 


 The  report  is  available  for  reference  in  the  FCC's  Reference  Information  Center,  Courtyard 
 Level,  445  12th  Street,  S.  W.  Copies  may  be  purchased  by  calling  International  Transcription 
 Services,  Inc.  (ITS)  at  (202)  857-  3800.  The  report  can  be  downloaded  [file  name  INFRA99.  PDF  or  INFRA99.ZIP] 
 from  the  FCC-  State  Link  Internet  site  at  http://  www.  fcc.  gov/  ccb/  stats  on  the 
 World  Wide  Web. 


 --  FCC  -- 
 For  additional  information,  contact  the  Industry  Analysis  Division,  Common  Carrier  Bureau  at 
 (202)  418-  0940,  or  for  users  of  TTY  equipment,  call  202-  418-  0484. 


 News  about  the  Federal  Communications  Commission  can  also  be 
 Found  at  the  Commission’s  web  site  www.  fcc.  gov 
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