Charter says it’s buying Time Warner Cable. Here’s what customers can look forward to next.

What’s Charter’s long-term plan? It may include a new, Internet-based video service and a cellular service that runs primarily on Wi-Fi, said Charter chief executive Tom Rutledge. Both ventures would expand on a key source of growth for cable companies — high-speed broadband — and help Charter fend off attacks by its rivals in other industries.

Rutledge also hinted that Charter might someday offer its own Netflix-like streaming video app. And, in what will likely be even shorter time frame, Charter plans to roll out a new customer interface that lists streaming video content right alongside programming from the cable lineup, blending so-called over-the-top video that relies on an Internet connection with more traditional TV offerings. As consumers continue to gravitate toward the Internet, cable companies are following. And that's forcing a whole slew of changes in the way they do business. A heavier emphasis on cheap, ubiquitous Wi-Fi will help cable companies counteract the drive by wireless carriers, such as Verizon, to get consumers watching mobile video over their own networks, for instance. And with many Americans looking forward to the end of the traditional cable bundle (in favor of "skinny" packages that offer fewer channels, but are more affordable), the cable industry is adapting by thinking seriously about Web-based streaming.