Will Google Start a 1-Gig Fiber Renaissance?

Here's our check around the cable news block:

Google (Nasdaq: GOOG)'s recent pick of Kansas City, Kan., as the site of its initial fiber-to-the-home experiment is unlikely to spark a gigabit broadband revolution in North America, predicts IHS iSuppli , citing high deployment costs and a general absence of ISP competition and a lack of apps that require gigabit-rate speeds. (See Google's 1-Gig Fiber Winner: Kansas City, KS.)

Limelight Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: LLNW) is going on the defensive again after a court agreed to hear Akamai Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: AKAM)'s appeal. A panel of judges affirmed late last year that Limelight did not infringe on an Akamai patent that helps deliver Web videos over content delivery networks. (See Limelight Set to Defend Against Akamai and Court Sides With Limelight Over Akamai.)

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will begin to track online video distribution in its annual Video Competition Report, which has focused for more than a decade on cable, satellite and telco TV growth. (See FCC: Broadband Starts at 4 Mbit/s .)

Cox Communications Inc. has tripled its production of solar power in Arizona since 2009. (See Cable Travels Green Road With 'SEMI'.)

Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) CEO Reed Hastings earned a $5.52 million pay package last year that consisted mostly of stock options, doubling his compensation compared to 2009. (See Can Netflix Keep Flying?.)

Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) CEO Jim Dolan earned $13.4 million in compensation in 2010, down nearly $3 million from 2009.

A Minnesota collection agency which Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) hired to track down delinquent cable customers claims the MSO owes it $314,210 for cancelling its contract.

Forty cable guys and gals will comprise the inaugural class for a Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) exec leadership program with Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business. The weeklong class kicks off next week and welcomes speakers such as Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) Chairman and CEO Glenn Britt. (See SCTE Goes to School.)

Did you know that the first TV remote built for the RCA Victor in 1961 controlled seven functions, including tint, color and brightness? The ad below touted the "hours of pleasure" viewers would get from the TV.



— Steve Donohue, Special to Light Reading Cable, and Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Light Reading Cable