Watch out for “ultrabroadband”

When Internet access reaches the speed of one gigabit a second, “then we’ll see our lives change,” says Broadcast.com founder Mark Cuban in an interview with Businessweek Online. Now owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team and co-founder of the HDNet high-definition television network, Cuban said technology is now in a period of integration rather than innovation.

“That said, if there’s a disrupting technology I could envision 20 years out into the future it would be ultrabroadband to the home,” Cuban said.

Once we hit 500 megabits, one gigabit, then we'll see our lives change, he said. A high-definition camera and encoder, connected to switched network at speeds of 1 GB or more allows the elderly to be seen by experts as a first line of medical support. Blood can be analyzed. The medical applications could be astounding. ”

“At that point, we can start to see entertainment applications that could change our expectations for fun,” he continued. “I just don’t think we’re going to see the investment required and then the implementation of that level to the home for quite some time.”

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