Also in the news . . .

European telecommunications companies Telefónica de España SA and Telecom Italia SpA awarded a $39 million contract to a group headed by Alcatel Submarine Networks (Paris, France) for the construction of a 760-km fiberoptic network connecting Barcelona, Spain, and Savona, Italy. . . . Northern Telecom (Mississauga, Ont., Canada) and Southern Information Systems (Taiwan) have signed an agreement to manufacture fiberoptic transmission equipment in Taiwan beginning this month. . . . Fiberoptic-test-equipment manufacturer Fotec (Boston, MA) now has a site on the World Wide Web at http://www.std.com/fotec. Dynamic Systems (Alexandria, VA) offers a fiberoptic-market Web page at http://fiberoptic.com. . . . Information Gatekeepers Inc. (Boston, MA) has released the Fiber Optics Careers Directory: A Guide to Careers, Companies, and Schools in the United States. For information, call (800) 323-1088.