From 1986 Fiber to AI Data Centers | Episode 1 of Fibreside With Ed O’Brian & Ken DePalo

In this first episode of Fibreside, Ed O’Brian and Ken DePalo share the origin story of Advanced Business Communications (ABC) and its journey through nearly four decades of telecommunications evolution.Ed recounts entering the fiber optic industry in 1986 and helping install one of the first enterprise fiber optic backbones in the United States. From early scrappy days competing against dominant brands in New York City to navigating the dot-com collapse and rebuilding with focused partnerships, ABC refined its strategy around representing industry leaders like Corning and Eaton.The conversation explores how Eaton’s acquisitions expanded ABC’s reach from wire management into power distribution, containment, self-contained data centers, and now liquid cooling systems. With the addition of Airspan, ABC now operates at the intersection of fiber, power, and wireless infrastructure.Ed and Ken break down their ecosystem sales model, the importance of subject matter expertise, and why reliability and accountability remain their competitive advantage as AI accelerates enterprise data center demand.If you are interested in enterprise networking, AI infrastructure, fiber optics, power systems, or data center strategy, this episode of Fibreside delivers real-world perspective from operators who have been building since the beginning.Learn more about ABC:Website: https://advancedbusinesscomm.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/advanced-business-comm/posts/?feedView=allBlog: https://advancedbusinesscomm.com/news-educationContact: https://advancedbusinesscomm.com/contact