Technology '89: telecommunications

The demonstration in late 1988 of an experimental broadband ISDN (integrated-services digital network) in Japan, which conforms to the draft international standards recommended by the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee (CCITT) is discussed. Other 1988 developments discussed are the commercial operation of TAT-8, the first transatlantic fiber-optic cable between the US and UK; wavelength-division multiplexing of up to 10 channels on a single fiber, using tunable semiconductor lasers; the push for digital cellular phones; deregulation in the US of very-low-power radio transmission; and progress in gateways and faxphones.<
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