Madrid’s Banco Popular group is to become the first Spanish user to connect its entire office system to the Iberpac X25 packet network after signing an agreement with Telefonica de Espana SA. The agreement will enable the bank to offer advanced services to its customers, whilst for Telefonica, it will mean the confirmation that the Iberpac network is really capable of supporting all types of telecommunications service. Telefonica sources emphasise the importance of this agreement in the promotion of the network, which came into service in 1983 and had grown to 27,100 users by the end of 1987, against 31,200 for the RSAN circuit-switched system. By 1992 the packet net is expected to have sailed ahead with 306,000 against RSAN’s 38,000. The growth of the packet network is expected to be fuelled in part by easier access to international services via other packet nets around the world.
