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equipment it had installed within the past 5 years was state of
the art equipment that offered the latest calling features.
NITCO's operating experience with its Alcatel equipment has been
good.
In an August 17, 1990, response that was submitted by NITCO
to a service audit report issued by the engineering staff of the
Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC), NITCO indicated
that Alcatel was continuing future research and development
efforts with respect to NITCO's Alcatel equipment. To support
this representation, NITCO attached to its response a copy of a
letter dated August 14, 1990, from Mr. James V. Parish, national
sales account manager--ITT-Alcatel--stating that Alcatel was not
withdrawing from the North American switching market, had no
plans to do so, and was providing a complete line of support for
its switching systems equipment.
From 1987 through sometime in 1992, NITCO did not obtain any
bids on new switching equipment to replace its Alcatel switching
equipment. In 1992, NITCO for the first time obtained a firm
quotation on the price of possible replacement equipment. As of
the time of trial, however, NITCO has not purchased new switching
equipment to replace its Alcatel switching equipment.
D. NITCO's Installation of Fiber Optic Cable
Although it is more costly than the traditional copper cable
still extensively used by local telephone companies, fiber optic
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Last modified: May 25, 2011