UK based cable operator NTL plans to pilot ADSL2+, a technology that offers a maximum download speeds of 18 mbps. This new technology should run at high speeds over the copper wire that runs between NTL's roadside cabinets and individual homes.

Such rates are only possible over short distances, but NTL says that 95 percent of homes are within one kilometer of its high-speed fiber network.

NTL is in a great position to really make inroads into this new generation of broadband internet access, given that rival BT only has a small proportion of its customers living within the one kilometer distance of their local exchange.