Take to the highway.

• Author: Silverman, Alan
• Position: Information highway

With big questions still unanswered, road signs should read: Proceed with caution.

In less than six months, 106 state agencies, schools and medical research centers will zoom along North Carolina's information highway. From day one, the highway will be capable of transmitting voice, video and data across the state at speeds that would give even Chuck Yeager the heebie-jeebies.

While basic plans for the initial deployment have been released, the project remains shrouded in hazy details. Here are answers to some of the key questions involving the highway.

What exactly is it?

The highway is an enhanced version of the state's existing local telephone network, which officials contend is already the most advanced in the nation because of the huge investment in fiber-optic cable and modern switching systems. "The digital network we now have is the standard that states like California are trying to reach by the year 2000," says Jane Patterson, who is spearheading the project as policy and telecommunications adviser to Gov. Jim Hunt. The information highway is intended to make that network even more sophisticated.

When completed, it will link thousands of government agencies, schools, medical research facilities and businesses with fiber-optic cable. Switches known as ATMs (asynchronous transfer modes) will pump huge volumes of voice, video and data onto the highway.

Initially, the highway will be used mainly for its video-conferencing capabilities, supporting a variety of remote learning applications. "If you're teaching Japanese from a university, for example, you could tie in six or seven sites across the state," Patterson says. Similarly, physicians at the state's large medical facilities could hook up with primary-care physicians in rural counties to diagnose and treat patients.

The highway will integrate existing networks such as the Concert system, which now links 13 state universities. Six state-appointed committees are now overseeing the development of uses for education, economic development, medicine, libraries, local governments and criminal justice. Meanwhile, home users aren't expected to be able to tap into the highway for many years.

Who's putting up the money?

Builders of the majority of the highway are GTE, BellSouth and Sprint's Carolina Telephone, which control about 94% of the state's local telephone traffic. Over the next several years, each carrier will be responsible for installing ATMs at its switching offices and laying any...