Telephone Executives See Need for More Voice, Data Capacity
New York, April 14 (Bloomberg) -- Top executives in the U.S.
phone industry said increasing demand for voice and data services
around the world is driving the need for more communications
networks.
Speaking at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter's Third Annual Global
Telecom Conference in New York, executives said more consumers
are hooking up to the Internet daily, creating a need for more
phone and data lines.
''There's surging demand and a shortage of capacity,'' said
Howard Janzen, chief executive of Williams Communications, a unit
of the Williams Cos.
Meanwhile, an unprecedented number of businesses are
building Intranet computer networks that allow employees to
access company information when out of the office or swap data
between offices. Such access and transmission of large amounts of
data requires more capacity as well.
''We can barely keep up with capacity demand in the
marketplace,'' said Brian Brewer, senior vice president, business
marketing at MCI Communications Corp., the No. 2 U.S. long-distance
phone company.
The executives said companies that make hardware or software
that boost capacity of phone and data networks, such as Cisco
Systems Inc., will see increased demand for their wares.
Several companies are already building new networks designed to
transmit data at high speeds, such as Qwest Communications
International Inc., GST Telecommunications Inc. and Williams Cos. Inc.
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