It has envisioned connecting every home and business in the country with high-capacity optical fibers by 2015, at a cost of $400 billion.

Cable companies that do enter the field would ultimately have to replace their existing coaxial cables with high-capacity optical fibers.

The BellSouth Corporation, which serves an area from North Carolina to Florida, has been one of the most aggressive in laying high-capacity optical fiber throughout its territories.

In exchange, however, the telephone companies would have to agree to upgrade their entire networks with high-capacity optical fibers by 2015.

Through these pipes, some dating to the 19th century, must run the high-capacity fiber optic lines that will make possible video conferencing, video-on-demand and other services.

But it also served as a hub into which traffic from about 50 other switching centers flowed on high-capacity optical fibers to be connected to long-distance services.

Founder of Global Crossing, Ltd., pioneering the use of high-capacity fiber optic cables.

Multiple channels would allow cable television companies to steal the thunder of telephone companies, which are gradually installing high-capacity optical fibers to replace the copper wire used in the phone system.

Moreover, Tele-Communcations, even before its merger talks with Bell Atlantic, was already modernizing its cable television system with high-capacity fiber optic lines.

A Bell Atlantic office at the edge of the property is crammed with high-capacity fiber and copper lines.