Net Neutrality, Google Fiber Plans Pound Cable Stocks

Cable distribution stocks took a pounding on Wednesday after the Federal Communications Commission said it would seek to restore Net Neutrality rules, followed by an announcement by online giant Google that it intends to expand its ultra-high-speed Internet service Google Fiber to another nine new metro markets.

FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said Wednesday that he planned to restore Net Neutrality, the regulation that prevented Internet Service Providers from unfair blocking of and discrimination against Internet content.

Later Wednesday, in a blog posting, VP of Google Access Services Milo Medin wrote that the online giant intends to expand its Google Fiber project to nine new metro markets, eventually expanding its reach to 34 cities across the country. While Google gave no details as to when it would launch the new areas – which include cities like Atlanta; Nashville, Tenn.; Phoenix; and San Antonio, Texas – it said it had contacted officials in those areas to “work with us to explore what it would take to bring them Google Fiber.”

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