Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: "Donald E. Kimberlin" <0004133373@mcimail.com> Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: The Whole Story on America's Last Magneto Exchange Message-ID: <10224@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 28 Jul 90 06:34:00 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 41 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 528, Message 5 of 8 -The Saga Continues In a story (Digest V10, Iss511), it seemed the tale of America's last magneto telephone exchanges had reached a quiescent state. However, today's reading brought some more news, this time showing the rapid pace of movement some areas can have in telecommunications technology. Case in point: Bryant Pond, Maine, last heard of when in 1983 its approximately 450 subscribers turned their magneto cranks for the last time. Now, {Communications News} for July, 1990 carries the following story on Page 12: "TINY TELCO GOES FROM MAGNETO PHONE TO SONET IN SEVEN YEARS "Seven years after taking out the last magneto telephone in the country," "Oxford County Telephone in rural Maine is intalling a Synchronous Optical Network (SONET). "Bryant Pond, Maine made news back in 1983 when it gave up its magneto phone. The SONET network, when finished next year, will move traffic at the OC-3 rate of 155 megabits per second. "Oxford Telephone and Bryant Pond Telephone will use a combination of (manufacturers' equipment list) to connect Bryant Pond and five other towns northwest of Portland, Maine. "The huge capacity looks ahead to future telco networking requirements as well as distance learning by video." Well, I don't know the Maine market area, but expect the caribou have a lot less need for phones there than perhaps public education does for some 45 megabit video. Otherwise, I sure can't see the Maine PUC approving 155 megabits worth -- 3 DS-3s @ 672 trunks each working out to more than 2,000 telephone trunks! Perhaps Shoup, Idaho will get on the fiber bandwagon sooner than we might think; likely driven by electronic education delivery, as seems the case for Bryant Pond.