NEWBURY PARK : GTE Plans to Install Fiber Optic Cables

GTE California plans to install fiber optic cables in a new section of Newbury Park that could one day give residents the ability to access a wide range of services by simply pushing the buttons on their TV remote controls.

The new communication lines, to be installed in August, will initially serve 17 new residences in the Shappell development near Lawrence Drive and Camino Dos Rios, spokesman Mike Murray said. The system, the only one of its kind in Ventura County, will eventually be expanded to serve all of the 1,200 residences that Shappell plans to build, Murray said.

The hair-thin optical fiber will replace traditional copper cables now used by most telephone networks, Murray said. The new lines will be able to transmit an almost limitless number of television signals and voice conversations.

If GTE receives state and federal regulatory approval, the company would be able to provide a number of entertainment and information services. Customers, for instance, would be able to pay their bills, check airline schedules, call up the latest movie releases or monitor the stock market on their television sets. Video phone services would also be available.

With a limited waiver received from the Federal Communications Commission, GTE has already successfully tested a similar program in partnership with a cable television company in Cerritos, Murray said.

Spurred by its success, GTE decided to install a fiber optics network in Newbury Park, he said. The area was chosen because it is near the company’s Thousand Oaks headquarters and can be easily monitored, Murray said. GTE will be the first company to install fiber optics on such a scale in Ventura County.

As part of national trend, a number of cable television companies are now entering the telephone business, in some cases providing wireless service to their customers, Murray said. In turn, phone companies are exploring ways to provide a range of television services to their customers by way of fiber optic cables, he said.

“We’re leveling the playing field,” Murray said.