TECHNOLOGY : Paragon Begins Fiber-Optic Service to 2,000 Customers in Huntington Beach

Paragon Cable, the Garden Grove cable-TV provider, said that beginning today, 2,000 of its customers will receive service via fiber-optic cable.

Paragon said the company broke ground in March on the system and expects to continue on the $17-million project through 1994, hooking up about 30,000 homes by year’s end.

The neighborhood in Huntington Beach is bordered by Magnolia Street on the west, Brookhurst Street on the east, Pacific Coast Highway on the south and a neighborhood south of Adams Street on the north.

By laying fiber-optic cable, which is made up of thin strands of glass that can transmit laser signals at the speed of light, the company will be able to pipe a much wider volume of TV signals to the area.

The benefit for subscribers will be an immediate increase in the number of channels offered from 45 to 80. New channels will include C-Span I and C-Span II, ESPN2, KHSC 46, an electronic program guide, TV Food Network, KRCA 62, NASA select, International Channel, Leased Access, QVC, Cal-Span and First Choice IV. Nine other channels are reserved for future use. New channels to be offered for a monthly fee include The Learning Channel, the Sci Fi Channel, Flix, Bravo and E!.

Reception quality should also be better, the company said, for the laser pulses can travel farther without distortion than signals that passed through its older coaxial wire system.

Ultimately, the company expects to be able to offer more than 300 channels. Paragon has 96,000 subscribers in Garden Grove, Westminster, Stanton, Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Los Alamitos and Rossmoor.