equipment used within telephone exchanges and elsewhere to set up routes from one network node to another, either by space switching, time switching or a combination of the two
The rate of digitalization of the local switches should, according to Portugal, reach 97 % in 1998, which is well ahead in comparison with other Community operators such as Deutsche Telekom or Telecom Italia. However, telephone penetration for voice-telephony is still very low in Portugal, by comparison with the rest of the Community.
