NEWBURY PARK : GTE to Install Fiber-Optics System
GTE California will install a $500,000 fiber-optics network in the Shapell development of Newbury Park during the next four to eight years, company officials said.
The network was one of several new programs announced this week by Larry Sparrow, president of GTE’s Western telephone operations, in a live broadcast to company employees.
The system will give business and residential customers clearer and more reliable phone service, said Tom Sweet, director of area planning. It also allows the transmission of high-speed data and video over telephone lines, although some of those uses are now proscribed by state regulators.
“We think building broad-band fiber networks will open the gate for bringing unlimited new services to customers. These video services include entertainment, medical, educational, home-shopping and new business applications,” Sparrow said in a statement.
Unlike traditional copper wire, a fiber-optics cable translates voice signals into pulses of light. One fiber-optics cable can carry as much information as several copper wires with better reliability, officials said.
When completed, the Shapell development will include business parks, schools, 800 single-family houses and 400 townhouse and condominium units.
The underground cable network in the Newbury Park project is part of GTE California’s $37-million investment in fiber optics this year, Sweet said.
Sparrow also said GTE would continue to reduce the size of its work force, although he gave no specifics. The company has eliminated about 1,000 jobs a year for the past 12 years.
