On November 16, the first national US Integrated Services Digital Network will be switched on, Bell Atlantic Corp, which has been pushing the technology locally and demanding a national service, reports. Customers found the high-speed digital service of limited use if it could only be used to transmit within an area code, and started demanding a nationwide system. The seven regional Bells, switch manufacturers AT&T Co and Northern Telecom Ltd and Siemens AG the US long distance carriers finally agreed in February 1991 to set a nationwide standard and asked Bell Communications Research Inc to harmonise the existing implementations. The network to be inaugurated next Monday will be the first phase of a national ubiquitous network that the various phone companies are hoping to deploy by 1994.
