Given all of the hype and expectations surrounding the FCC broadband plan and talk of 100 Mb/s to 100 million households by 2015, it delightful to catch up with someone who has brought fiber to the home to everyone of the residences his companies serves. Kevin Beyer wears two hats as General Manager of Federated Telephone Cooperative and Farmers Mutual Telephone Company in West Central Minnesota.
Kevin’s broadband plan was formulated many years ago, when fiber was still primarily for long distance transmission and special projects. Today, they have implemented fiber to the premise in all 10 exchanges, covering 900 square miles of territory. In this interview, he talks about the process of upgrading, the operational advantages of fiber to the home, as well as the enhanced capabilities of fiber and its benefits.
To get an idea of Kevin's vision and where it all began almost 10 years ago, check out this whitepaper, written in 2002, that details Federated's initial Fiber to the Home deployment. In it, he predicts how big media companies such as Disney and Microsoft would someday become huge drivers of bandwidth.
