Phonoscope Communications
Phonoscope Communications is a broadband and cable television provider with corporate headquarters in Houston, Texas. The company's infrastructure spans eight counties and reaches distant locations such as Baytown, Galveston, Freeport, Magnolia, Richmond-Rosenberg, Splendora, Texas City and Willis, Texas.
History
Lee Cook, along with Houston banker Jesse Jones and William T. Carter, founded Phonoscope in 1953.[1] Cook reportedly outlived his co-founders.
Phonoscope established a two-way videotelephony system in 1962 for Galveston Independent School District, connecting eight elementary schools to the district's administration building using coaxial cable.[2]
In 1989, Phonoscope completed a large scale fiber optic ring for Ethernet transport in Houston, encompassing all the major central business districts.
The company sold their residential cable television business to OpTel Inc. in 1997[3], but later began to serve residential customers again.
Phonoscope continues to work with local area school districts, having since 2014 entered successful bids to provide dark fiber[4] and 10 Gigabit Ethernet[5] service to the Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District.
Services
Phonoscope offers a Metro Ethernet fiber network in the Houston area. Services such as wireless backhaul[6] are available on the network.
Phonoscope Cable offers digital cable, high speed internet, and digital phone service to some residential customers in Houston.
Phonoscope Fiber offers fiber optic based services to some MDU's (i.e., apartments) in Houston. [7]
Technology
Phonoscope has adopted equipment in order to accommodate the use of IPv6.[8]
References
- "Low-profile Cook recognized as true telecom trailblazer". Houston Business Journal. 2005-01-16. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
- "History Being Made In City's Schools By Use Of Two-Way Television System". Galveston Daily News. 18 March 1962. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
- "Dallas competitor buys Houston cable TV firm". Houston Business Journal. 1997-08-24. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
- "Dark Fiber Service RFP" (PDF). Cypress Fairbanks ISD. 2014-03-13. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
- "10 GB Wavelength Service RFP". Cypress Fairbanks ISD. 2015-02-16. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
- "Phonoscope to turn up 100G network to target business, wireless backhaul opportunities". FierceTelecom. 2012-02-01. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
- "Phonoscope Fiber | Gigabit Fiber Residential Internet Service in Houston". 2018-03-09. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
- "Phonoscope Deploys Juniper Networks Routing Solutions for Comprehensive IPv6 Support" (Press release). Juniper Networks. September 20, 2011. Retrieved June 15, 2013.