Comcast Corp.

The country's biggest phone and cable companies have agreed to hand over information about their broadband networks to help the federal government produce a national map showing where high-speed Internet connections are available across the U.S.

AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp. have told the Commerce Department that they are committed to helping the government "complete the important and difficult task of mapping broadband availability."

Coming soon to your TV: More advertising, in places you might not expect.

The ads are showing up where people used to enjoy a break from advertising, such as video on demand and on-screen channel guides. Even TiVo, which became popular for its technology that lets people skip TV commercials, is developing new ways to show ads.

How many gigabytes do you consume per month?

Not many people can answer that question, complicating the efforts of Internet service providers to get their subscribers to stay below a certain amount of data per month.

In August, Netgear Inc. plans to introduce a $190 router that will provide the first easy way for users to get a grip on their Internet traffic.

Netgear said it will include the feature on future models, eventually making it a standard, and provide software upgrades for older devices.

Minnesota officials are trying a novel tactic to block online gambling sites -- using a federal law that enables restrictions on phone calls used for wagering.

The state's Department of Public Safety said Wednesday it had asked 11 Internet service providers to block access to 200 online gambling sites.

The state is citing a federal law that requires "common carriers," a term that mainly applies to phone companies, to comply with requests that they block telecommunications services used for gambling.

Online video site Joost is shopping itself around to different cable TV operators, but at least one has declined to buy it, according to people with knowledge of the talks.

Time Warner Cable Inc., the nation's No. 2 cable operator that recently separated from parent Time Warner Inc., is in talks with Joost for a possible acquisition, according to two people who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on confidential negotiations.

Parents might get a new reason to yell at their kids for playing video games too much: In the future, it could rack up their Internet bills.

A service unveiled this week aims to stream video games over the Internet, setting gamers on a collision course with cable and phone companies that are seeking to curb growing demands on their networks by charging for heavy usage.

Cox Communications, the third-largest U.S. cable company, stepped on to the battleground of the "Net Neutrality" issue Tuesday, saying it will be trying out a new way to keep its subscribers' Internet traffic from jamming up.

Starting on Feb. 9 in parts of Kansas and Arkansas, Cox will give priority to Internet traffic it judges to be time-sensitive, like Web pages, streaming video and online games. File downloads, software updates and other non-time sensitive data may be slowed if there is congestion on the local network, Cox said.

Google Inc. denied that it had reversed its stance on the issue of "Net neutrality" and dismissed a story in Monday's edition of The Wall Street Journal on the subject as "confused."

Citing undisclosed sources, the newspaper reported that Google had been in talks with major cable and phone companies about getting preferential treatment for traffic to and from its sites.

Cablevision Systems Corp. said Thursday it has finished the first phase of its wireless network buildout in New York and remains on track to complete the project in two years.

The diversified cable operator is offering the Wi-Fi service at no charge to its 2.4 million Internet customers at speeds of up to 1.5 Megabits per second, similar to DSL at home.

The company currently doesn't have plans to offer the service to non-subscribers.

The road to advanced video, Internet and phone services is bumpy -- and the bumps can be almost as big as refrigerators.

As cable and phone companies race to upgrade services or offer video for the first time, they're doing it by installing equipment in boxes on lawns, easements and curbs all over American neighborhoods. Telecommunications rollouts have always been messy, but several towns and residents are fighting back with cries of "Not in my front yard!"