The old phone system is facing an overload, so Sprint has a plan; new network could enable users to make calls, send Internet data all at once; a $200 'meter' to track usage

Sprint announces a $2 billion telephone system redesign that could revolutionize the communications services industry. The No. 3 long-distance carrier is counting on its Integrated On-demand Network (ION) to boost call-handling 17-fold and slash long-distance calls by 70% while establishing new service and billing standards. Sprint, which triggered an industry change in 1988 with its all-fiber network, believes the rise of the Internet is forcing systems changes. Its code-named FastBreak features high-speed switches, data-packet routers and optical fiber designed to separate traffic into digital bits and reorganize them at their destination. By comparison, PC traffic data is largely responsible for overwhelming the decades-old system of circuits-switching. Sprint intends to introduce commercial operation of ION later in 1998, charging customers for monthly transmission of digital bits.