Optical Entertainment Networks made a big splash a few years ago when they announced an aggressive plan to deploy Fiber to the Home throughout the Houston metro area. OEN President and CEO, Al Estrada, an early veteran of DirecTV, discusses their strategy for rolling out service. He talks of their beta tests and some of the things they learned and have incorporated into their commercial launch, such as data packages that extend up to 25 Mb/s downstream.
Their network is a bit different from many of the PON Fiber to the Home Networks. They are taking an active point-to-point approach, much like the one championed by SureWest. More importantly, their focus is on basic blocking and tackling by making the packages simple and easy to understand. Additionally, their installation people spend time training their customers.
In this interview, Estrada also touches upon some of their near-future activities, such as providing video service to other providers and the creation of local content. They have some interesting ideas on creating local content to both promote as well offer unique programming. After the interview, he indicated that one of the ways they are able to do so much is by leveraging themselves through partners.
