While the cable TV providers aren't averse to their own hype, and while they've produced their share of engineering snafus, they're growing up as telecom providers. They've begun concentrating on building out their physical plants and hiring staffers who really know networking. Meantime, cable prices remain stable relative to DSL's, which are rising everywhere. In some cases, yes. Small remote offices can set up reasonably reliable VPN links relatively easily.
Small businesses can get cheap access to the Internet.
But there are limits. Most cable TV providers offer Internet service only to consumers. Depending on the cable provider, setting up an onsite Web server is difficult or impossible. Fortunately, some cable TV companies provide Internet services tailored to businesses and government agencies, offering everything from high-speed Internet access to data transport and even telephony. In some ways, it's not surprising that the critical solution to providing universal connectivity seems to be falling to the cable companies.