At the end of 1995, according the the FCC, the major interexchange
carriers had the following amounts of fiber deployed:
Carrier Route Miles Fiber Miles
AT&T 46,083 1,417,600
MCI 23,160 567,400
Sprint 22,996 467,200
WorldCom 11,127 266,200
Other 4,223 58,900
I believe new statistics for 1996 have just been released, but I don't
have those numbers handy at the moment. Try www.fcc.gov, and look for a
report called "Fiber Deployment Update" or somesuch.
Qwest is a relative newcomer (just went public) which has been building
out their own fiber network with the intent of reselling it to other
carriers. Qwest also bought a boatload of fiber from Williams Pipeline
Co. some time ago, and signed a contract with Williams which locked
Williams out of the business of deploying new fiber until early 1998
(Williams runs fiber through unused oil and gas pipelines, having
discovered that fiber optics is more of a growth industry than
schlepping around fermented dinosaurs).
Regards,
-Peter