With Tut Systems' equipment, a hotel could offer guests internet access without pulling a single new cable. Apartment buildings, hotels, and campuses were full of copper wire installed for telephones. Tut built products that let that wiring carry fast data as well. It also worked on home networking over phone lines. Tut went public in January 1999, as everyone looked for ways to reach the last few hundred feet.

The Wires Already There

The bet was that the wires already in place were worth more than people thought. Rewiring a building was costly and slow. Tut's equipment worked with what was already there. That saved time and money in the rush to wire buildings for the internet. Tut sold to building owners, service providers, and phone companies that wanted to offer broadband in multi-tenant buildings. Property owners could add a service without tearing open walls.

From Building Wires to Video

Tut priced its offering at $18 a share in January 1999. The stock rose through the boom and collapsed in 2000 and 2001. The company shifted to video processing systems for telecom carriers offering television over broadband. In 2005 it bought Copper Mountain Networks. Motorola acquired Tut Systems in 2007. By then Tut sold video gear to telecom carriers, far from its roots in building wiring.

Cover: Ostracon with a Drawing of a King, Ancient Egyptian. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for an Egyptian king (Tut).