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The mobile phone is a commodity biz now. The land-based network buildout has been sort of cooperative, and the speed upgrades offered by the phone maker and cell vendors have to be enabled by the land-based network. Lots of different companies, all on the same page, which is excellent because margins have shrunk due to competition, tech advances, and paying off the sunk costs.

Cable had to do the buildout. There were hundreds of companies including at least a few municipal or community-run ones. But the content was from elsewhere. What really should have kicked it up was the introduction of these big flatscreens we all take for granted. Projection TVs were pretty bad, really, but the picture was huge, making a sports-watching party (or sports bar) quite viable.

When the plasma sets came out, they were, uh, a little pricey, but the picture was great! Oddly, AFAIK, they were limited to 720P -- because of the distribution network speed (cable, satellite). 1080P and then 4K is what really put a bullet in the head of cable.

I've still got a CRT set around here somewhere (it has an 8-pin CGA port, can't be left high and dry y'know) but if it goes kablooey, absolutely nowhere to get it fixed. That happened fast.