New standards for digital telephone lines will offer dramatically increased bandwidth that makes broadband television a reality.
Thomson has licensed technology from Aware, which specialises in DSL designs, to develop chipsets for a new generation of home broadband products.
Many broadband services are currently based on ADSL or Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line technology.
The transition from ADSL to ADSL2 and ADSL2+ will increase the data rates and extend the reach of broadband services over telephone lines.
ADSL2 allows downstream speeds of up to 12 Mbits/sec, while ADSL2+ offers up to 24 Mbits/sec, depending on the distance to the exchange.
Aware chief executive Michael Tzannes said the arrival of IPTV and the ability to offer a triple-play of video, voice and data services has increased interest worldwide in converting ADSL networks to either ADSL2 or ADSL2+.
“As evidenced by France Telecom’s recent launch of ADSL2+ broadband internet access services with Iliad, it is clear that service providers are transitioning to new ADSL2 and ADSL2+ solutions. We are optimistic that this trend will continue for ADSL deployments around the world.”