Sprint To Expand High-Bandwidth ServicesSprint To Expand High-Bandwidth Services

Sprint Corp. says it will convert all 8.3 million lines of its local phone network from conventional circuit-switched technology to an all-packet infrastructure, the first of its kind. Sprint will buy $1.1 billion in network equipment and services from contractor Nortel Networks Corp. in the project's first phase, which will cover 3.6 million phone lines and will run from January 2003 until July 2006. With the new infrastructure, Sprint will be able to offer ATM, frame relay, and digital subscriber line services in many more areas than it can now.