At 400 kilovolts, a standard value for long-distance transmission, an alternating current 30 metres (100 feet) from the ground has a fortieth of the loss of a similar cable at ground level.

ECONOMIST: Power transmission

Or perhaps take it a step further and drive the online service, a threat to the traditional cable business, right into the ground?

FORBES: The Future Of Hulu In The Comcast-NBC Universal Era

But you are also getting a call option on the possibility that Viacom will sell a lot of premium services to its cable subscribers, using fiber-optic cable it has already laid in the ground.

FORBES: Consider Your Options

Like the copper cable, it would be buried in the ground--but a strand the diameter of a human hair could carry thousands of times more information than the copper wire.

FORBES: The Trials Of Amory Houghton Jr.

You know, cable took a long time to get off the ground.

NEWYORKER: Search and Destroy

The crash caused a ground fire at the point of impact, possibly knocking down cable or telephone lines, said Dennis Shell, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority.

CNN: One killed in California plane crash

We ran a wire cable between two trees, about twenty feet off the ground, and attached a pulley to it.

NEWYORKER: Stung

The Optical SMART Hub breaks new ground by functioning as a Wireless AP router changing broadband Internet service with a cable from the wall to Wi-Fi Internet connection so that all family members can enjoy wireless connection at home.

ENGADGET: Samsung unveils new optical storage drive, wirelessly transmits and backs up your physical content

Cable-climbing robots, powered by laser beams shot upward from the ground, or downward from space, would take payloads to orbit.

ECONOMIST: Monitor