BellSouth Installing Fiber Optics

[SOURCE: New Orleans Times-Picayune 12/6, AUTHOR: Keith Darcé kdarce@timespicayune.com]
With electricity, natural gas and water restored to most repopulated areas of the city, many people have turned their attention to other services that, while not essential to living, are nonetheless important to restoring their lives to pre-Katrina quality. With much of its local telephone network damaged or destroyed, BellSouth Corp. is taking a technological leap in New Orleans by ripping out flood-soaked copper wires and replacing them with fiber-optic lines. The move promises to deliver higher-quality telecommunications services to the phone giant's local customers and boost the company's position in an increasingly competitive telecommunications market. BellSouth managers say the pace of service restoration isn't being slowed by the technology improvements, but , many New Orleanians still will have to wait weeks or even months to get a dial tone back at their homes and businesses.
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