The only impediment now was the wait for a high-speed Internet line.

He pays $111 a month for a digital cable plan and a high-speed Internet line, up from $85 a few years ago.

But they had hoped that politicians, regulators or the courts would relieve them of having to pay the fee on high-speed Internet lines.

The thing I am worried about is there is no Internet line.

The addition of 97,517 high-speed Internet lines was below analysts' expectations.

"You shouldn't ever be able to tell the difference" between an Internet line and a land line, he said.

And as high-capacity Internet lines spread to ordinary households, the practice is expected to become more widespread.

Increasingly, Internet lines are being used to deliver all manner of services, from phone calls to television programming.

A high-speed Internet line costs an extra $10.55 a day.

"He sat right there at the computer and worked it up on this Internet line."