A big piece of the challenge for video-on-demand was solving what’s known as the last-mile problem—getting the content from Enron’s network into people’s homes. That required negotiating agreements with the phone companies that provided local DSL service across the country. Enron executives, according to a Blockbuster official, had assured the video chain they had the phone companies “in our pocket”—and under the terms of the deal, Blockbuster had the right to walk away if Enron hadn’t gotten them all on board by December.
