to benoit joly from broadband telecoms firm thales 30 of europe cannot get satellite tv or digital tv they could get iptv though analysts say that iptv will account for 10 of the digital tv market in europe alone by the end of the decade what needs to happen now agree analysts is for connection speeds to be bumped up to handle the service 20mbps connections would be ideal bt does not see itself as a broadcaster of iptv services rather as an enabler said mr burke its strategy is a hybrid approach he explained where overtheair conventional broadcasts are supplemented with content over broadband initially appealing to niche markets like sports fans it will widen out but iptv could be used for homemonitoring pet cams localised news services and local authority tv too says bt it even suggests that it could target those households in the uk that do not own a computer 40 of the country broadband to them would not be about data and the net that could come later for them but about cheap phone calls and more choice of tv programmes home choice already offers 10 000 hours of shows and channels delivered over broadband to homes in london with a broadband net subscription you can also get your tv and phone service through content deals and partnerships it offers satellite as well as terrestrial channels and bespoke channels based on what viewers pick and choose from its catalogues it aims to expand nationally but is seeing a lot of success with what it offers its 15 000 subscribers now and aims to double uptake as well as reach by the summer although still at a very early stage iptv is another application for broadband that underlines its growing prominence as a backbone network another utility like electricity