Cable Companies

Wired has an article discussing IPTV and how many think that it is the future of television. In five years television will be broadcast on demand using the coaxial cable that runs to 95% of our homes. Verizon is in the process of upgrading it's customers connections to direct fiber connections.

The article discusses how the satellite companies have been able to steal customers from cable companies for several years. Now though, cable companies are able to offer VOIP (voice over internet) which can take customers from the telecom companies. They also offer high speed internet connections which the satellite companies are unable to do. (Satellite companies offer internet connections, but they are far slower because there is not a direct connection.)

In theory the cable companies upgraded digital network to all our homes could provide us with 5Gbits/second of data. The satellite companies won't be able to come close to providing that kind of data rate, and phone companies will have to increase their already heavy debt load to stay competitive.

You may want to keep track of the cable companies in case they end up being the only data pipe into your house.