INFRASTRUCTURE GOALS OF ALL ELECTING COMPANIES

(a) Recognizing that it will take time for competition to develop in the local exchange market, the commission shall, in the absence of competition, ensure that each electing company achieves the infrastructure goals described by this section. (b) Not later than December 31, 1996, an electing company shall make available to each customer in the company's territory access to end-to-end digital connectivity. (c) Each new central office switch installed for an electing company after September 1, 1995, must be digital or technically equal to or superior to digital. In addition, a switch installed after September 1, 1997, must, at a minimum, be capable of providing integrated services digital network (ISDN) services in a manner consistent with generally accepted national standards. (d) Not later than January 1, 2000, 50 percent of the local exchange access lines in each electing company's territory must be served by a digital central office switch. (e) Not later than January 1, 2000, an electing company's public switched network backbone interoffice facilities must employ broadband facilities capable of 45 or more megabits a second. The company may employ facilities at a lower bandwidth if technology permits the delivery of video signal at the lower bandwidth at a quality level comparable to a television broadcast signal. The requirements of this subsection do not apply to local loop facilities.