/* /*]]>*/ Year in Review: Broadband Blurred linesin broadband The line between cable and telephone companies continued to blur in 2006. Cable operators such as Comcast and Time Warner aggressively marketed their new "triple play" bundle that includes telephony, high-speed Internet access and television services. The strategy paid off. By midyear in their phone services, and phone companies such as . However, AT&T and the other major phone company in the U.S., Verizon Communications, also pushed ahead with their plans to offer TV service. AT&T introduced its , in San Antonio, Texas, in June. And in November it . AT&T says it expects to have U-verse up and running in 15 to 20 markets by the end of the year. Verizon, which had started offering its TV service in 2005, continued to win video franchises across its service territory. And in August it reported strong momentum in getting customers to . The phone companies' merger mania of 2005 carried over to 2006. Before the ink on its deal to merge with SBC Communications was even dry, AT&T was back at the negotiating table finagling a deal to . Valued at about $67 billion when it was announced in March (it's now valued around $86 billion), a combined AT&T-BellSouth would be the , servicing customers in 22 states. On the last business day of the year, the . The merger at the U.S. Department of Justice earlier in the year. But it , where the two Democratic commissioners, Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps, wanted to see more restrictions put on the merger. Two Republican commissioners, Chairman Kevin Martin and Deborah Taylor Tate, opposed the restrictions, while Commissioner Robert McDowell declined to vote on the matter, citing ethics considerations. Speaking of political machinery in Washington, lobbyists and executives from the phone companies dealt with a wide variety of issues on Capitol Hill in 2006, ranging from to to answering questions about who was . This was also the year that the Internet giants jumped into the telephony business. Yahoo, AOL, EarthLink and Google all . Meanwhile, . Unfortunately, for investors (many of whom were also Vonage customers) the hype fell short of expectations, and . Last but not least among broadband news makers in 2006 was Wi-Fi. The , expected to supercharge Wi-Fi speeds, hit a few bumps on its road toward standardization. Equipment makers began , but experts warned customers to wait before buying anything until interoperability issues were addressed. Ultimately, feuding WiFi-gear companies made peace with each other, and the Wi-Fi Alliance starting in the first half of 2007. After years of hype about citywide Wi-Fi, 2006 was also the year it started to come of age. EarthLink, which has won bids to build networks in several major cities, including San Francisco and Philadelphia, in June. As more municipalities introduce service, city officials are realizing . But companies such as EarthLink say that regardless of these early challenges, they will push forward and use the lessons learned to improve deployments in the future. --Marguerite Reardon 2006 Highlights Company offers Internet-based TV service to a limited number of customers in Texas.January 5, 2006 The combined company would generate about $130 billion in sales and serve nearly 70 million local phone customers.March 5, 2006 Verizon, AT&T offer companies special pipes. They want to extend that concept to content delivery.March 24, 2006 Testers unhappy with new Wi-Fi equipment that complies with the draft version of 802.11n standard.April 24, 2006 San Francisco, with its steep hills and urban valleys, will be a challenge to EarthLink and Google's ambitious project.May 5, 2006 As outcry over Bush administration data mining grows, companies go out of their way to say they weren't involved.May 12, 2006 Rather than cheap prices and fancy features, first major IPTV deployments will offer fees, service similar to cable.June 8, 2006 Will company's strategy of building wireless networks in U.S. cities fill a void left by exiting dial-up users?June 29, 2006 A month after an IPO, company execs say they're ignoring pundit's insults and see strong prospects ahead.June 30, 2006 With Net telephony poised to hit the mainstream, experts say issues with service quality need to be worked out.July 18, 2006 Cable operator reports better-than-expected revenue and profits, bolstered by strong subscriber growth.July 27, 2006 For the first time, the company discusses market details of its fiber-to-the-home network.August 1, 2006 After its proposed merger with BellSouth, AT&T will in many ways be bigger and stronger than its monopolistic predecessor, Ma Bell.November 7, 2006 A patent ruling in favor of an Australian government agency could mean equipment makers will have to pay up.November 20, 2006 After months of partisan deadlock, the Federal Communications Commission OKs the merger. December 29, 2006 Behind the headlines