A slight change of stance and high expectations for wireless devices other than phones might describe the current business direction for AT&T Inc. (T). Although still the very picture of stability, AT&T gave investors a moment of pause recently when it disclosed that it had garnered its fewest number of new Q1 customer contracts since 2004. Market saturation is being blamed as the most likely culprit in this decline, and the iPhone is no longer acting as much of a buffer.

There is no need to worry though, indications are that AT&T has seen this development coming, and the company is making adjustments to maintain cash flow, even though that revenue might not be coming from the company's most traditional sources. An AP article reveals that AT&T has high expectations of success for wireless devices other than phones, and that the company is lining itself up with some of the manufacturers of these new gadgets.

Google (GOOG) is finally taking some of the "dark fiber" it has purchased four years ago and is doing something with it. At the time, the traditional telecommunications community raised eyebrows at the purchase. After all, Google could start bypassing them and connecting consumers and businesses to the internet using its own lines rather.

That premise is starting to now become a reality. Google announced an "experimental" launch of a very high-speed internet network that would originally be available to about 50,000 people, with the capability of serving up to 500,000. This new Google network would be about 100 times faster than the average high-speed network available in the U.S. The kicker: Google will make this new ultra high-speed service available at "competitive prices" compared to existing high-speed internet pricing.

Rural broadband/telecom provider Windstream Corp. (WIN) has broken through key resistance at $10 -- i.e., its now "a contender," and I'm recommending the company's shares.

Look for 16-state-presence Windstream to post a 3-5% revenue gain in 2010, as broadband subscriber increases offset a likely phone revenue decline. Windstream should also benefit from a rise in business broadband subscriptions as business formation increases with the U.S. economic recovery.

There was an interesting announcement that came out this week. It seems that the triple-play package of cable, high-speed internet, and telephony are coming to America's largest retailer.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) are partnering up to allow Wal-Mart customers to select and purchase various Time Warner packages at nearly 700 Wal-Mart store locations.

The store offerings will be in the electronics department or "Connection Center" locations inside the stores. These locations will explain and offer the packages, possibly with a joint purchase of a new high-definition television.

Time Warner believes this will give customers convenient and easy access to its broadband, high-definition cable, and digital phone services. After seeing VoIP offerings in the past, this might not be all that unexpected. But the triple- play package isn't exactly a bare-bones pricing, even if it ultimately does save money for consumers who use all three services under one provider.

For the former "Always Low Prices" retailer, it seems that the old dial-up or low-priced DSL internet access would have been the highest priced offering. Either times are a changing, or US web access markets are saturated.

We are still awaiting the final verdict from Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) and Jeff Bewkes regarding its majority stake in the cable operator.

Frequently, the difference between a successful investor and one less so is all timing. Making money in the market requires not only picking the right companies to invest in, but also deciding when (or when not) to invest in such companies.

I rediscovered Earthlink (NASDAQ: ELNK) last year while running a value screen. Like many stocks that end up in the proverbial value barrel, this company was once a high flier, trading at a split-adjusted $50, while now trading around $8. There were highs and lows, culminating in Earthlink's founder being charged with fraud and money laundering. I recalled that Earthlink was in the now-dying dial-up ISP business during the bubble days of the internet and decided to dig a little deeper.

What I saw, when I looked under the hood, caught my attention. While Earthlink was indeed seeing dial-up customers dial-out of their contracts, Earthlink was converting a good percentage of these customers to DSL service. It was working well -- while the company wasn't growing much, it was producing a lot of cash from operations and instead of just building a cash horde, like many companies would do in a situation like this, the company was looking to reposition itself with two major, seemingly sexy initiatives.

In the post-Icahn aftermath, bids are starting to come in for AOL's German ISP business.

Earlier in the year, AOL had reviewed with its bankers (Citigroup) selling off AOL Europe completely. As the high-profile battle between Icahn and Parsons concluded late February with an agreement by Time Warner to repurchase $20 billion in stock, AOL is now in the midst of developing a new strategy rather than looking at a fire sale of its assets.

In line with that, AOL Europe is likely off the block, in that AOL's strategy has been to move away from the ISP business but stay fully committed to a strong net presence. The German ISP business is the largest of AOL's European ISP holdings and its initial price target was 600 million Euros (latest spot rate).

AFX via Forbes reports today that offers have come in under that price, in the 400-450 million Euro range.

Conflictingly, Reuters carried an article which placed the bids "well over" $766 million (using a conservative 1.25 EUR/USD = 612.8 million Euros), essentially saying that there has been a bid "well over" the 600 million Euro initial target.