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Can mobile TV compete with BT's TV over gig-E?

More speed is the theme of the week, as two independent bodies aim to boost the data rates of fixed-line networks by significant amounts.

The venerable Ethernet - now well over 30 years old - is looking set to hit a chunky 100Gbit/sec as the standards body, the IEEE, gears up to consider a technical implementation. We should have the standard - and judging by how these things normally proceed, some early technology - by 2010. It sounds like ages but it's only three years away.

It'll essentially be a telco standard at first, as they're experiencing the biggest pain, seeing a doubling of traffic every 18 months. The standard will include both 100Gbit/sec and 40Gbit/sec. Over copper it'll work over short runs only - up to 10 metres - though fibre will take it up to 40 kilometres.

But more intriguingly - and more immediately relevant to more people - is a recent statement to the FT by BT's boss that the telco is thinking about boosting its broadband speeds to 50Mbit/sec. It would do this by running fibre as far as the boxes at the end of each street - known in the trade as fibre to the kerb. The downside is that it'll cost about £4 billion, according to analysts.

Obviously, you don't need this sort of speed for Web surfing - there are few Web servers capable of delivering this sort of bandwidth. Rather, a key driver is IPTV - the ability to download and watch several streams of TV from a content provider over the broadband link. You want several streams - not just because of people wanting to record two simultaneous shows while watching a third! - but also because, of course, families these days all have multiple sets with each individual closeted away with their own set.

Hardware vendors supplying the telcos see this as the future and, it has to be said, it's a model that could be very attractive for content providers. Whether the telcos themselves, and in particular BT, could actually turn a profit out of it is another matter.

Telcos don't have a great track record when it comes to providing compelling services over their networks. All of them want to move up the stack and provide applications for end users but in practice, it's usually a third party who manages to achieve this.

But if BT can pull this off and turn it into a profit, then that will help break the mould. It's a bold gamble but BT's the only company in a position right now to make it.

Virgin and Sky now have something to worry about...