FCC Pushes High Speed TV over Internet

U.S. FCC Chairman Michael Powell on Wednesday said technology and telecommunications companies are racing to develop ways to pipe television shows into consumers' homes via high-speed Internet lines. Telephone companies like SBC Communications Inc. are trying to fend off mounting competition from cable television companies that are able to offer consumers a bundled package of products, including phone and Internet service. "Almost every major phone company I'm aware of has an initiative underway to begin to try to plug the hole with partnerships with satellite-delivered video but what they're really working on is broadband-delivered IP (Internet protocol) television," Powell told reporters.

As we reported on earlier, Verizon is rolling out high-capacity fiber-optic lines that can carry huge loads of data, with the goal of passing 1 million homes by the end of this year and another 2 million homes in 2005. Already Qwest Communications International Inc. operates a small IP television service in Arizona and the other three big local telephone companies are ramping up their efforts, as well.

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