Pacific Bell to Speed Up Activity on ‘Information Superhighway’

Pacific Bell is expected to announce today plans to accelerate a multibillion-dollar program of technological improvements that will eventually enable it to bring video games, two-way instruction and other interactive services to California homes.

The company said it will disclose details of its “information superhighway” at a news conference in Los Angeles. Among those scheduled to attend are Gov. Pete Wilson; Sam Ginn, chairman of parent company Pacific Telesis, and Pacific Bell President Phil Quigley.

Pacific Telesis shares leaped $3.125 to $56.625 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday in anticipation of the announcement.

Analysts said competitive developments in the communications industry are probably forcing Pacific Bell to speed up its plans to upgrade its telephone system. Other regional telephone companies have formed alliances with cable systems to develop interactive networks. Leading the pack is Bell Atlantic Corp., which is planning to merge with Tele-Communications Inc., the nation’s largest cable television company, creating an information giant reaching into a large percentage of homes.

Pacific Bell has previously said it would spend up to $15 billion over the next 22 years to upgrade its system.

Analysts said the timing of Pacific Bell’s announcement, one week after the state Public Utilities Commission approved the spinoff of its wireless telephone business, appears intended to quickly establish an aggressive, forward-thinking identity for the stripped-down company. Until now, the closest the company has come to an information highway was the announcement in April that it planned to begin trials for interactive video services over the telephone in either 1994 or 1995.

Analysts said Pacific Bell faces a considerable game of catch-up. California is behind most of the rest of the country in conversion to fiber-optic cables, which can carry vast amounts of information, and digital switches, devices that direct the information flow.

“California is mediocre at best in terms of its telecom infrastructure,” said William Davidson, a professor at the USC School of Business and a consultant to telecommunications companies.

Pacific Bell is in the process of converting a portion of its statewide network to fiber-optic cable, but that project does not include extending the cable directly to residences. Analysts said it is possible the company will not build fiber-optic cables to everyone’s doorstep, but will instead employ a new technology that can force video signals into existing telephone lines.

Also expected to attend Pacific Bell’s news conference is William Marx, chief executive of AT&T;’s Network Systems unit. Analysts said the presence of the AT&T; executive signals that Pacific Bell has agreed to buy a substantial amount of equipment from the long-distance company. AT&T; is a provider of digital switching equipment needed to provide the new interactive services.

Times staff writer Martha Groves in San Francisco contributed to this report.