Article Abstract:
Companies are beginning to turn over their private data networks to outsourcing companies such as global communications carriers. Network outsourcing is a $2.3 billion industry that is growing by more than 20 percent per year. Outsourcing helps companies cut costs, reduce personnel and alleviate some of the frustration of managing large networks. The advent of frame relay and switched multi-megabit data service (SMDS) has made telecommunications even more complex. The growth of computer networks, microcomputers, mainframe computer networks and data traffic on the networks has also led to an increase in the need for outsourcing. Companies hire an average of one network manager for every 25 employees who use networks. Outsourcing can involve everything from setting up a transmission line for a fee to completely taking over a data center or network.
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Article Abstract:
Digital technology does not necessarily enhance every analog consumer electronic application. For example, many audio devotees say that analog vinyl recordings from the 1950s more accurately reproduce sound; that audio CDs sound harsh and brittle by comparison. A CD's 16 bits of memory is not enough to fully reproduce a human range of sound. Furthermore, a CD's analog sampling rate is not fast enough to capture all the sound. Digitizing communications networks has permitted more traffic to flow through fewer systems, but this very centralization makes the networks more vulnerable to failure, as the satellite pager services crash of May 1998 demonstrates. In addition, many newer digital cellular phone systems are designed with not enough channel capacity for good quality sound reproduction.
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Article Abstract:
NCR reports that its earnings for fiscal 1991 will not come close to the predictions that were discussed during the merger talks with AT and T. The computer company says that a recessionary economy and a decrease in overseas orders is responsible for the lowered estimate on earnings. The early estimate for revenue in 1991 was $6.62 billion, which includes $678 million in income before taxes and $386 million in net income. NCR also projected revenue of $7.3 billion in 1992, $10.3 billion in 1995 and $16.84 billion by 2000. The company did not say whether its long term projections have changed. Industry observers note that 1992 will be a pivotal year for NCR.
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