Eli Completes Spokane Network

Thu., Nov. 12, 1998

From Staff

Electric Lightwave Inc. has completed installation of a fiber-optic network and switch in Spokane, officials of the Vancouver, Wash.-based telecommunications company announced Wednesday.

The $13 million system is the most extensive of those operating in Spokane, said Greg Birdsall, general manager for company operations in the state.

Seventy miles of cable arrayed in several overlapping loops reach from Liberty Lake to downtown, and north to Mead.

The central switch is located at 9515 E. First.

ELI employs 11 in Spokane.

Regional Vice President Keith Foltz said more than half the company’s 1,100 employees are in Washington.

The 8-year-old company was the first west of the Mississippi River authorized to provide alternative local and long-distance telecommunications services.

ELI now serves 84 communities.

Foltz said the company already operates a long-haul link between Spokane and Portland. It is in the process of completing another between Spokane and Seattle.

Those connections give the company the capability of offering local and long-distance service, he said.

ELI becomes the latest entrant in the Spokane telecommunications market, which has become one of the most competitive in the region.

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Eli Completes Spokane Network

Jesse Tinsley

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