Do you remember the days when DSL was all the rage?  "The poor man's T-1"  It allowed small and mid-sized businesses to have high-speed internet like the large businesses, but at a fraction of the price.  Alas, despite many carriers wishes DSL can no longer compete against cable internet.  Even the DSL providers have begun waiving the white flag with offerings such as U-Verse and FIOS to replace the aging technology.

In fact, it's become increasingly apparent that DSL and the fax machine are in a race for extinction.  As the demand for faster and faster internet have become more prevalent, DSL hasn't been able to fulfill them.  The cable providers (ie. Comcast, Charter, and Time Warner) have gladly stepped in to fill the void.  Thus far the only thing slowing them down is the lack of network avaialability.  Consequently, you can't drive thru a major metropolitan area without seeing buildouts occuring.

It will be interesteing in the coming years to see how the cable providers price their solutions.  Presently, they offer the best value per Meg avaialble with such offerings as 50Mbps/10Mbps for below $200.  However, once these speeds have become mission critiacl for businesses, one can only wonder if they will keep the pricing as affordable.