Pac Bell to Spend Another $650 Million for Upgrades

Pacific Bell, California’s largest phone company, said Thursday that it will spend $650 million in the second phase of a project to make its network capable of delivering the next generation of information and entertainment within the next five years.

With the latest announcement, the phone company’s commitment to network improvements rises to $1.65 billion by 1997.

Earlier this year, Pacific Bell said it would spend $1 billion over the next five years to convert its entire network in California to carry digital signals, allowing customers to subscribe to the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN).

These services range from the high-speed computer data transmission demanded by business to the latest residential custom-calling features, such as priority ringing, voice mail and select call forwarding.

In addition, ISDN is required for emerging telephone video services, such as high-quality residential picture phones and improved video conferencing at work.

The first phase of the project consists of converting telephone routing equipment to digital technology. In the second phase, the new electronic equipment will be connected with newly installed fiber-optic cables.

This network overhaul is the critical first step toward bringing fiber-optic telecommunications service--the “electronic superhighway”--to the doorsteps of the state’s homes and businesses. To complete the process, a telecommunications company--it could be a cable television operator or a phone company--must still connect individual homes and businesses to the new fiber networks.

Pacific Bell said earlier this year that it is committed to completing that process by 2015. Half the state, including the most densely populated areas, should be wired in this way within the coming decade.