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Digital switches may boost US West By DAVID PRESZLER State regulators say US West�s service is improving. And the company�s plan to install three new digital switches around Southern Oregon � including one in the Phoenix-Talent area � this fall is expected to improve it further. US West is installing a $5 million digital switch � the piece of equipment that routes calls � at its Phoenix-Talent wire center that is scheduled to begin operating this fall. Similar switches will also begin operating in Grants Pass and Roseburg. By early next year, all of Southern Oregon�s calls will be handled by digital switches. Sprint, which provides local service in the Upper Rogue area, has been using digital switches for several years. The Oregon Public Utility Commission, often critical of the phone company, says complaints are down, the performance of US West�s switches is improving and the company is doing a better job of filling new orders on time. "The fact is that US West has made substantial improvements in service quality in the past year," says Joan Smith, one of the PUC �s three commissioners. Commissioner Roger Hamilton says the report "confirms that US West has effectively responded to customer demand and commission pressure for improved service quality." A quarterly service report on US West was presented to the PUC late last week. The report found US West complying with five of seven service standards. The company is fined at the end of the year for standards it doesn�t meet and built up potential fines of $255,000 in the first three months of this year. The biggest remaining problem the PUC found is continued difficulties with so-called "fast busy" signals in several communities, including Grants Pass and Roseburg. The fast busy signals are caused by overloads in the company�s wire centers. The PUC says the problems are tied to Internet use in older, analog switches. Internet use generally ties up phone lines for longer periods of time than regular calls do, creating more traffic on the network. The company has replaced analog switches with higher-capacity digital ones in much of the state and plans to replace the remaining ones by year�s end. "They should have replaced the switches earlier, but I expect that by the end of the year, generally, the company should be in compliance and on par with the other companies in Oregon," says PUC Chairman Ron Eachus. The higher-capacity digital switches being installed in Roseburg and Grants Pass this fall are expected to end the fast-busy signals. The Grants Pass switch is scheduled to start handling calls in September with the Roseburg one following in October. "That problem will be completely corrected by the new switches," area manager Gary Miller says. The other standard the company failed to meet in the first quarter was failing to answer calls to its business office quickly enough. The standard calls for 75 percent of calls to be answered within 20 seconds; the company failed to hit that mark in January, February and March. Miller says the company�s service has been in compliance the majority of the time, experiencing problems mainly during the busy hour of the day. He also says that service in the Medford area has been in compliance with PUC standards the vast majority of the time. US West installed a digital switch in Medford early last year but has been using both it and the old analog switch in tandem. The company will phase out the analog switch in Medford in February. A month later, it will phase out another analog switch in Klamath Falls, making its entire Oregon service area digital. The new switches in Grants Pass, Roseburg and Phoenix-Talent are among 11 being installed around the state. Miller says population growth in the Phoenix-Talent area is the reason for replacing that switch. The new switches have higher capacity and flexibility, and can be expanded quickly and easily. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA