6:00 AM -- Remember Optical Entertainment Network Inc. (OEN)? They were going to bring independent IPTV -- and phone and Internet service -- to parts of Texas via fiber-to-the-home. (See IPTV Startup Has Big Plans for Texas.)

Not any more. Xchange Magazine got word earlier this week that OEN is folding its Fision triple-play service.

"Due to circumstances beyond our control, Fision will be discontinuing all services," a friendly, Houston-tinged voice tells anyone who calls OEN's main number. "We apologize for the inconvenience."

"Circumstances beyond our control" smacks of "nobody wanting to fund our company any more."

Fiber-to-the-home hasn't had quite the bubble buildup as VOIP services, considering it takes more than a guy with a computer. But the same kind of exuberance has taken hold, maybe on a milder level.

OEN won't be the last. At least they had an interesting ride:

— Craig Matsumoto, West Coast Editor, Light Reading