newsbytes@clarinet.com (02/04/90)
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1990 FEB 2 (NB) -- Telecom Canada, the consortium of Canadian telephone companies, is testing integrated services digital network (ISDN) connections linking three provinces over some 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles). The trials being conducted by New Brunswick Telephone, Bell Canada and Alberta Government Telephones provide ISDN service between Saint John, New Brunswick, Ottawa, Ontario and Calgary, Alberta. So far, Telecom Canada spokesman Tom Schwarzkopf told Newsbytes, only departments within the participating phone companies are using the service. Later this year, Telecom Canada expects to involve other companies in the trial. "I would suspect by the end of the year we'll be very close to commercial reality," he added. The system uses Canada's cross-country fiber-optic network, which is complete and operating from the east coast to Alberta and is expected to be officially inaugurated in March, Schwarzkopf said. The network is still being tested and connections to British Columbia, Canada's westernmost province, are being completed. Telecom Canada is also preparing to start cross-border testing of Signaling System 7, on which ISDN service will be based, with AT&T early this year. No date has been set for starting the trial, Schwarzkopf said. (Grant Buckler/19900202/Press Contact: Tom Schwarzkopf, Telecom Canada, 613-560-3009)