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Comcast and Google clash over fast Internet, set-top boxes

    by Bob Fernandez
    Published 

Comcast Corp. is facing a double threat from Google.

The West Coast search-engine giant is rolling out super-fast Internet through Google Fiber in select cities, including Atlanta, and pulling the regulatory levers in Washington for set-top box reform.

Responding to the Google Fiber buzz, Comcast recently announced own plans for its own lightning-fast gigabit
Interet service in certain metro areas, including Atlanta. The Philadelphia company also has been distributing 
marketing flyers in the Atlanta area hyping its Xfinity Internet service as having the "fastest in-home WiFi" and the "X1 voice remote," according to published reports.

The Federal Communications Commission, meanwhile, is expected to vote on a propopsal in Washington this Thursday to open the set-top box business to outsiders. Google, which owns online video streamer YouTube, is expected to be a beneficiary of the reforms proposed by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. Pay-TV officials, including those at Comcast, have been lobbying against it.