Some days it seems the blogging is easy. Today is one of those days. A link in the nifty isenberg.com blog (referenced below) leads to an old Times of Acadiana article from May 29th of 2002 (Get Wired In The Hub City) which trumpets the success of LUS initial fiber project–a fiber optic loop that will be part of the backbone of the coming fiber to the home build.
Its fun to read that success story and to catch the names of folks still participating in the latest fiber stories.
Steve Creeden, for instance, is now working for LUS and a key player in their video plans, was then a long-time cable employee and said of LUS’ competition then that: “decreased prices because of competition or increased efficiency were “very unlikely.” Cox is still saying that but Creeden is singing a different tune these days.
By contrast, singing the same tune and sounding prescient, our own Mike Stagg is quoted as saying:
…LUS should be praised for its vision and deployment of the project, but that “they haven’t had the courage or the vision to deliver world-class last-mile solutions.
“They’re not delivering what the loop holds,” he says. “If LUS wants to offer something truly earth-shattering, they will deliver a fiber to the building solution,” which, he says, would be a “truly useful tool for community and economic development.”
The story closes with a little open-ended speculation:
So, What’s Next?
The loop is lit. It is making a difference for local companies and their customers. Even though not every citizen who is paying for it can use it, the consensus is that the loop is plugging Lafayette into a new realm of possibilities. What those will be have yet to be seen.
We’re seeing today what was next then. But the same question is worthwhile now: What’s Next? Regional Fiber? WiFi? The story is hardly over.
