But on Jan. 11 of that year, television in America turned a technological corner when eight stations on the East Coast and seven Midwestern stations were linked via the first long-distance coaxial cable.

WSJ: WSJ Sightings: Terry Teachout on the New-Media Crisis of 1949

Thanks to technology--primarily the Internet--the traditional differences between local and long-distance phone services, cable TV, satellite TV, radio and television are being obliterated.

FORBES: No Shame

Indeed, EarthLink is not the only company looking to sell bundled voice and data--everyone from the cable companies to the local and long-distance phone giants are fighting hard for customers.

FORBES: EarthLink To Bundle Services

Cable access could be a welcome consumer alternative if Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) carries out its metering plan.

CNN: With a Little Help From a Foe

It forthrightly refused to recognize that the Internet was obliterating traditional barriers between long-distance and local telephone calls and between telephony, TV, radio and cable.

FORBES: Fact and Comment

Likewise, traditional local and long-distance telephone service over the copper network is being displaced by better technology from cable and fiber.

FORBES: The FCC Scores a Hat Trick of Errors on Internet Regulation