NCIH services, architecture, and implementation

The telecommunications planners for the North Carolina State Government recognising the potential of asynchronous transfer mode and synchronous optical network, asked BellSouth, Carolina Telephone, and GTE to develop a proposal for a network based on ATM and SONET to enable a multitude of high-speed data and video applications throughout the state. This B-ISDN, now known as the North Carolina Information Highway (NCIH), has become widely recognized as a model for the National Information Infrastructure (NII). The services provided by the NCIH are designed to be able to support numerous emerging applications that are expected to provide significant benefits in the areas of education, health care, crime control, economic development, and government.<>