“Google Fiber will threaten pay-TV”

Google Fiber is something pay TV operators should be “very, very afraid of,” said research group SNL Kagan. “Google is reinventing the business of pay TV and broadband — and it may not need to wire every US city to make an impact,” wrote SNL Kagan analys Deborah Yao, in the report’s lead.

Two weeks ago, in Kansas City, Mo., Google launched a new fiber-based broadband and video service. For $120 a month, subscribers get uncapped internet access that’s 172 times faster than the national average. They get a 2 terabyte DVR, capable of recording up to 500 hours of programming and eight shows at one time. And they get an as yet incomplete but growing selection of basic cable channels, albeit one that currently lacks such powerful draws as Disney’s ESPN, News Corp.’s Fox News and AMC.