Also in the news . . .
The government of Japan has accelerated development of the nationwide fiber-in-the-loo¥effort, aiming for completion by 2005 instead of the original date of 2010. The change of date will add $8 billion to the expected cost of about $260 billion. The network was 16% complete by March 1997. . . . Schott Fiber Optics Inc. (Southbridge, MA) announced a 25% expansion in production capability at its Charlton Street facility. . . . Miniature-fiberoptic-spectrometer manufacturer Ocean Optics Inc. (Dunedin, FL) has opened a regional sales office--Ocean Optics Middle East/Ocean Optics Southwest Asia (Morrisville, PA)--to serve markets in the Middle East and southwest Asia. . . . The quality system for Vitesse (Camarillo, CA), manufacturer of high-bandwidth communications integrated circuits, received certification to ISO 9001:1994 standards.