The cable companies are starting to get a leg up on the phone companies in terms of new subscribers to Internet. For over three years, the trend has been that phone companies signed on more new subscribers for DSL than cable companies did for sales of their broadband service. First quarter earnings reports indicate that the trend has been reversed and cable companies are now leading the way in new subscriptions. This helps widen the gap in subscriptions; cable companies now have nearly 35 million Internet customers whereas phone companies have less than 30 million. Phone companies hope that increasing DSL speeds can help shorten that gap again and put them back in the lead for new subscriptions.

We all know that video is one of the hottest things happening on the Internet today but growth of the user-generated video business continues to exceed expectations. A report from In-Stat now predicts that by the year 2012 we will see over 160 billion videos available online creating over $1 billion in revenue. The majority of the growth in this area is expected to come from international markets (particularly China) and from the growing use of mobile phones to generate video content. This has re-ignited global fears that the demand for bandwidth will not grow as fast as the content that’s eating it up.

FairPoint investors continue to be wary about the profit potential of the company’s takeover of Verizon’s New England networks earlier this year. Reports about first quarter earnings show that FairPoint lost $10 million in the first quarter. The company is quick to assure others that the 34% drop in earnings is due to the initial cost of starting up the new network and that profits are sure to come around soon. However analysts believe that ramped-up marketing from the competition proved to be more of a problem than anticipated and could mean bad business for FairPoint down the line.

Municipal wireless service provider MetroFi has announced that the company is seeking a sale of its networks as it considers getting out of the citywide Wi-Fi game for good. The company has been unable to keep its promises in the nine networks that it’s built; the most recent problem was a demand that Portland pony up additional funding to complete a network that was supposed to be done this summer. MetroFi has now told Portland and other cities where it operates that they can buy the networks themselves within the next 30-60 days or MetroFi will look to sell them to a third party. MetroFi is also seeking to sell itself to a larger company.

Google got a lot of attention last fall when it announced the creation of the Open Handset Alliance, a coalition of companies committed to supporting open standards for mobile devices (particularly Google’s Android). However, there had already been another similar Linux coalition developed in January 2007 which had similar goals but didn’t achieve backing in America.

Last fall a Minnesota woman was ordered by the courts to pay over $200,000 in fines in the first case of music download filesharing that went to trial. The court is now about to hear new arguments which could change the ruling in that case.

According to the HSDPA-enabled security drones flying high above my underground bunker, it's Friday. So take off your shoes, put up your feet, and vent your geek angst into the comment section below.

• Activist coders aim to deafen Phorm with white noise [The Register]
• BT still biggest ISP in UK [Pocket-Lint.co.uk]
• World economy group gives IPv6 big push [The Register]
• Cable Sees Opportunities In Digital Television [InformationWeek.com]
• P2P soars, licensed music flatlines [The Register]
• Commentary: Philadelphia network flop points to failure of corporate franchise model [MuniWireless.com]
• US Congress questions legality of Phorm and the Phormettes [The Register]

The last few years have seen a growing number of allegations that the telco is neglecting their DSL & landline infrastructure to focus on getting into the more lucrative TV business (aka FiOS). Union workers say they aren't getting the tools and resources they need to support DSL & landline customers effectively.

Comcast has been working overtime to get the FCC off their back for the company's throttling of P2P traffic. They first argued that the throttling was perfectly reasonable -- as per the definition of reasonable in the FCC's network neutrality policy statement.

Earlier this week I noted that Charter has started selling user browsing activity to NebuAD, a behavioral advertising firm I profiled in February. NebuAD takes that data and delivers (through traditional ad networks) ads tailored to your browsing habits.

While Verizon currently offers fiber to the home, FiOSTV is a coaxial/fiber hybrid. Last year, I remember Verizon's Terry Denson saying the company would be moving to an all-IP network within three years. Ideally, this conserves bandwidth, given Verizon wouldn't have to be delivering oodles of bandwidth to a customer's home if the computer and TVs are off (I've discussed how cable's answer to this is switched digital video). But now, Light Reading is reporting that the company is in no rush to go pure IPTV, given they're perfectly happy with their existing model. So how about some new HD channels?

It appears that Alltel, like AT&T and Verizon, will be embracing LTE (Long Term Evolution) as their fourth generation wireless broadband flavor of choice. That said, the company this morning informed attendees of their first quarter earnings conference call that deployment was still three to five years out.

Earlier this week I noted that Canadian regulators refused to deliver immediate relief to independent Canadian ISPs, whose livelihoods have been threatened by Bell Canada's decision to throttle P2P traffic on competing wholesale networks. The Toronto Star notes that the CRTC will be meeting next year to determine if they should be more involved in Internet regulation, and, according to the article, discuss the possibility of charging ISPs (translated: charging you) a tax for the creation of media content. A similar push is on deck here in the States.

In 2005, single Oregon mother Tanya Andersen was sued by the RIAA for trading copyrighted files. They ultimately dropped the case for lack of evidence. In 2007 she fought back, suing (see complaint) the music industry and several of their investigative and debt collection partners for invasion of privacy, racketeering, libel and slander, deceptive business practices and "malicious prosecution." According to the Oregonian, yesterday she was awarded $108,000 for her troubles. Jon Newton of P2PNet has done a great job tracking this story over the years and has more detail here.

• MetroFi selling muni Wi-Fi networks in Portland and other cities [MuniWireless.com]
• ISP guarantees net neutrality [The Inquirer]
• Qualcomm acquires UK spectrum for new services [Reuters UK]
• EU warns Google over Street View [Vnunet.com]
• Icahn to Yahoo board: Sell to Microsoft or leave [Yahoo News]
• Windows to run on One Laptop Per Child computer [Reuters.com]
• Zero-Day Internet Explorer Vulnerability Published [InformationWeek.com]
• Microsoft hits back at Vista security critics [Silicon.com]

• Ovum sees cable modems outpacing DSL [EETimes.com]
• EU economy to gain if TV spectrum is reallocated to mobile broadband [MobileNewsCWP.co.uk]
• Covad Completes SF WiMax Trial, Ready To Roll Later In The Year [Unstrung.com]
• Congress Approves Farm Bill, Broadband Funds Included [xchangemag.com]
• Sprint, Samsung Ready WiMax [Unstrung.com]
• Vermont Telecom Chooses Towers Over Cables for Statewide Broadband [VNews.com]
• Shape-shifting malware hits the web [Vnunet.com]
• Attorneys awarded $107,833 from RIAA [The Register]

I'm generally entertained by TV marketing battles, from companies including everything but the blue setup screen in their total channel counts, to companies attacking others for false advertising while engaging in false advertising. This week it's Dish Network playing PR patty cake.

Earlier this week, Ars Technica's Nate Anderson wrote a good piece on the state of the broadband union. It consists of the same points I've been making for years, namely how our lack of any broadband policy whatsoever has left many markets without reasonable competition, leading to high prices and poor customer service.

In order to deal with the flood of DMCA letters from the entertainment industry, many college campuses have blocked access to P2P services altogether. But according to Inside Higher Education, Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla has a different idea.