broadband

If you're fed up with escalating cable bills, fuzzy satellite TV reception, and unresponsive customer service, Google is starting to think inside the box: The world's leading search engine may be ready to launch a broadband television service as early as next year.

It isn't easy being a cable and Internet service provider these days. Consumers are turning to cheaper options, and they're tired of paying for channels they never watch. Networks are demanding more money. Add in performance issues, it's no surprise cable companies and wireless carriers among the country's most hated companies.

Cable companies said Wednesday that they will offer Internet service for $9.95 per month to homes with children that are eligible for free school lunches. The offer will start next summer and is part of an initiative the Federal Communications Commission cobbled together to get more U.S. homes connected to broadband.

Don't look now, but the cord-cutting trend continues for Comcast. Though the country's largest cable provider tried to mask its woes with upbeat spin in its quarterly report, Comcast is serving 577,000 fewer households than it was a year ago.

Netflix is enjoying a period of rapid expansion, riding on the popularity of DVD-by-mail and online video streaming. The question for investors is: What's next? Netflix has signaled that it plans to expand abroad, and the U.K. is a likely target. But is Britain ready for Netflix?

Regulators have begun to take a long, hard look at whether the AT&T buyout of T-Mobile would create a quasi-monopoly in the American cellular carrier industry. If those antitrust concerns sink the deal, AT&T could be in real trouble, because cellular is its only clear hope for growth.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday proposed that the government auction off its portion of the wireless spectrum to private companies to boost access to high-speed Internet and cut the federal budget deficit.

Netflix, the largest video-streaming company in the world, has been tracking the download speeds of North American broadband ISPs. On Thursday, it posted a chart of its findings: On average, ISPs in Canada handily beat their U.S. counterparts.

The Federal Communications Commission has granted permission for nine companies, including Google, to turn unused broadcast frequencies -- also known as "white spaces" -- into wireless broadband.

Global broadband service revenue has grown 10% this year, says ABI Research, which expects sales to more than triple by the end of 2011. The cause? More users are watching television and videos on the Web, boosting the need for faster speeds.