Telecommunications Profile

Local facilities
Full digital switching with an AT&T # 5ESS digital switch and SS7 system are provided by Bell Atlantic. Frame Relay, SMDS, and full ISDN services are available. The system supports teleconferencing, Centrex, and all other special capabilities. An Integrated Community Network is in place providing local Internet access at virtually unlimited bandwidth for industrial customers through GlobalCom. Normal bandwidth access is provided by GlobalCom and an increasing presence of other Internet providers.

Two SONET rings are in place; one girding the City center and the other peripheral to the County serving all industrial parks. These SONETs are the backbone of the USA 21st century phone system.

Long Distance facilities
Six long distance carriers provide data and voice services: SouthernNet/Telcom U.S.A., Long Distance Service Inc., U.S. Sprint Metromedia Communications Corp., MCI, AT&T, and Blue Ridge Telephone. Shentel, through the ValleyNet provides multiple DS3 fiber optic along the I-81 corridor to Pennsylvania and Tennessee. Cellular service is provided by Shenandoah Cellular and C-Comm (Cellular One) Corporation. Western Union provides telegraph, mailgram, and money transfer services (digital microwave).

Equipment Upgrades
The SS7 system will manage expanded growth to meet the demand for telecommunications anticipated in the northeastern USA and Canada. Winchester-Frederick County is one of only three Virginia locations to receive the SS7 system. The current Internet network servicebased on routers is being upgraded to ATM/SONET beginning 1995, and will be deployed at (minimum) OC-3 bandwidth. The upgraded system will lead to provision of bandwidth on demand for public and private customers.

Access
The AT&T POP (Point of Presence) and MCI POP are three and four miles, respectively, from the northern major industrial areas of the community. The Internet is accessed by a local POP of Shentel.

Current major telecommunications users
Several enterprises in Winchester-Frederick County located here because of the need for topnotch survivable ultra reliable telecommunications. AT&T established its primary EasyLink operations center here supporting global communications services of EasyLink. The US Army Corps of Engineers Trans-Atlantic Division communicates constantly via voice and modem with Vicksburg, St. Louis, Frankfurt Germany, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Other high priority government emergency command and control centers are nearby.

Winchester Medical Center and Shenandoah University employ major network capabilities internally and access the broadband network through GlobalCom.

Winchester-Frederick County was selected to be the site for the Shenandoah Valley Telecommuting Center serving commuters who would otherwise drive the 150 miles to work in the Washington area because of its strategic location and excellent telecommunications to support Wide Area Networks (WAN).

Services
Microwave networks are in place, and microwave backup can be provided to plant/operation locations. Zoning ordinances accommodate the antennas, as they will accommodate uplink and downlink installations anywhere such satellite communications are needed.

All state of the art services are available including special access high speed networks and local Internet access.

Costs
Bell Atlantic is the lowest cost provider of telephone service in the Mid-Atlantic region.