LCI lights up fiber network

Regional interexchange carrier LCI International announced last week that it is bringing on-line a fiber network that runs between Chicago; Fort Worth, Texas; and Los Angeles.

LCI bought the fiber earlier this year from IXC Corp. and recently completed a deal with Alcatel Network Systems for the equipment to turn up the new fiber route.

Alcatel won the contract based not only on existing technology to be deployed but also on the ease of future expansion and improvement, said Michael Peruss, network systems engineering vice president for LCI, McLean, Va.

Peruss said the company had been leasing fiber in the regions that will be served by the new network. But with leases running out, LCI didn't want to renew without evaluating its options. "We found out that it would be more cost-effective to buy the network and light it up ourselves," he said.

That's a lesson that many IXCs are learning, said Christine Heckart, vice president of TeleChoice.

"Regional IXCs are finding it difficult to find capacity [to carry their traffic]," Heckart said, adding that IXCs often find that routing traffic over leased routes puts them at the back of a long line of users, including the routes' owners. "By building out its own network, it gives LCI control of its destiny.

Most carriers that are building their own networks are looking for a quick startup and ease of expansion when they buy transport equipment, said Joe Bass, vice president and general manager of Lightwave products and optical networks at Alcatel.

ON-LINE Stand up... Giving carriers a clue as to what regulators think about the market effect of "certain mergers" is FCC Chairman Reed Hundt's job. Too much in telecom these days is reactive instead of proactive.

Not just lip service Anxious to avoid federal regulation, the on-line industry is working on ways to police itself by developing technical solutions to protect Web privacy. Maybe the broadcasting industry could learn a lesson.

OFF-LINE ...sit down But is Hundt seeking the spotlight more now that he has announced his plan to leave the FCC? His latest remarks have set up a showdown between the FCC and the Justice Department on antitrust enforcement.

Paper trail growing AT&T, still without confirming an SBC merger, reacted to Hundt by saying documentation on RHC foot-dragging could "fill an FCC hearing room.' It must be happy to hear more such evidence surfaced last week.

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GoAMERICA GOES WITH CDPD GoAmerica Communications has signed an agreement with AT&T Wireless Services to resell AT&T's cellular digital packet data service nationwide. GoAmerica's mobile data users will now be able to access the Internet, intranets and e-mail over CDPD.

ORTEL GETS CDMA LICENSE Qualcomm has signed a licensing agreement with Ortel under which Ortel will manufacture and sell wireless repeater products based on Qualcomm's code division multiple access technology. Ortel's MirrorCell channel-selective repeater is the first to meet the CDMA standard.