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Saturday, 05 November 2011 00:36

Google Mulls Paid Cable TV Service

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Google Mulls Paid Cable TV Service

Forget Comcast. Google could be your next cable company.

Google is considering its own paid cable TV service, potentially shaking up a territory long dominated by major industry players Comcast and AT&T.

A source familiar with the matter told Wired.com that the potential project is still in its early days, and that Google hasn’t quite decided what to do as of yet. “This is all still speculative territory right now,” the source said.

The service could include offerings from content companies such as Time Warner, Walt Disney Co. and Discovery Communications, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Eventually, it could also include phone and video offerings bundled together, the Journal reports, akin to Comcast’s “Triple Play” and AT&T’s “U-Verse” packages, which offer a combination of internet, TV and phone service.

The proposed service could be instituted as part of a wider Google initiative to install high-speed internet networks in different locations across the country.

Google first announced this effort in February of 2010, and earlier this year it broke ground on a high-speed network — dubbed Google Fiber — in Kansas City, MO and Kansas City, KS. The company also rolled out its Fiber program in Stanford University’s residential subdivisions last month.

Google’s fiber-optic network boasts speeds of up to 1 Gigabit per second, more than 100 times faster than typical broadband services available, according to the company.

Some Google executives have also floated the idea of offering premium TV channels on the company’s YouTube sites, The Journal claims, a true maneuver towards completely cutting the cord on traditional cable boxes altogether.

A source familiar with the matter told Wired.com that Google has “absolutely no plans to offer a premium TV channel service through YouTube.”

Instead, Google plans to place its efforts into the recently announced 100 new YouTube video channels the company is currently working to develop. The channels will be created in partnership with multiple other media companies, and are planned to launch next year.

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