Many years ago, when cable TV was first being deployed, I owned a Madison, Wis., town home that had a finished basement. One day, a cable installer came to my front door and explained he needed access to my basement to run a cable so that a fellow resident could get cable TV. Wanting to be a good neighbor, I allowed him to come in.

My neighborly feelings ended, however, when he asked if he could remove a few ceiling tiles to run his cable line through my basement and into the neighbor’s basement. When he couldn’t promise to restore my ceiling to its original condition, I had to say no. When I suggested he run the cable along the back of the building, he explained that this approach had led to extensive theft of service by the college students who inhabited the complex.

Fast forward a couple of decades, and telecom service providers find themselves facing the same challenge of how to re-wire MDUs in a cost-effective way. Deploying fiber to apartment buildings presents a myriad of potential problems. But this market can’t be ignored, especially if telecom players are going to be able to steal significant market share from cable and satellite companies.

In this e-newsletter, I look at one significant development in the battle for MDUs -- reduced bend radius fiber. This new technology, along with two decades worth of experience and know-how on how to install cable in secure and aesthetically pleasing ways should give telcos a leg up on the cable guy.

E-mail me at cwilson3@telephonyonline.com.