To compare the optical and electronic switching approaches, let us assume that the network is dominated by data traffic that terminates on equipments with OC-48 interfaces, so that demultiplexing to DS3 speeds at the cross-connect is unnecessary. Let the cost of each DS3 termination on the digital cross-connect be 1,000, and let the cost of the terminal (MUX) be 40,000 dollars. In the electronic switching approach of Figure 1, a 2,880×2,880 DCS is required to switch signals