In 1986, while I was news director of KLTV in Tyler, Texas, our station provided live news coverage of a pretty sensational murder trial that had been moved from our coverage area to San Antonio. That doesn’t seem like a big deal in this day and age, but we did it as part of an experiment with phone companies in Texas and Louisiana using fiber optic cables. This led to many futuristic discussions with engineers about fiber and its potential for the future. Fast forward to the internet circa 2006, and the opportunities seem even more staggering.

We’ll one day all be connected via fiber. It’s unlikely I’ll see it in my lifetime, but that doesn’t stop me from wandering down that particular stream from time to time. The cost to implement fiber-to-the-home is significant, but the financial payoff for the big telcos is even more significant, so it will happen.

There are many players in this space, but an announcement earlier this month by Optical Entertainment Network (OEN) in Houston got my attention. They’re providing a 400 channel universe, plus symmetrical broadband (10 Mbps up and 10 Mbps down) and other services to fiber networks anywhere in the U.S. Al Estrada is Chief Marketing Officer for OEN, and here are my 10 questions for him:

10 Questions for Al Estrada

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