What's next in telecommunications?

[SOURCE: CNET News.com, AUTHOR: Marguerite Reardon]
As the most influential executives in the telecommunications industry gather this week in Las Vegas for TelecomNext, their annual powwow, they're more likely to be talking about TV than phones. Judging from the diverse list of keynote speakers, it's easy to see that the phone business is readying itself for cataclysmic change. The traditional telecommunications market has already begun consolidating in anticipation. Putting itself back together two decades after being broken apart, the new AT&T faces an entirely different competitive environment. Phone companies and cable companies will soon be competing directly with each other not just for broadband customers, but also for TV and phone customers. New technology developments are making it possible for content owners, such as Disney, and Internet companies, such as Google and Yahoo, to also become competitors to the cable and phone companies, since these companies will also be able to deliver telephony and video services.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-6051317.html