±±¾©Èü³µpk10

It is just the sort of service many people will want. It should at the very least increase pressure on cable companies and provide another missing jigsaw piece in the move toward an all-digital society.

The only slightly jarring note about this splendid new technological development is that you will have to move to Lyon or Paris to enjoy it.

Until now, the large telephone companies are the dogs that haven't barked in the world of multi-channel television, even though they already have networks that reach virtually every home.

To some extent their reluctance is understandable. The culture of the telecoms engineer is not that of the broadcaster, and such a development would probably have cost billions with no guarantees of success.

But there seems little doubt that over the years BT has missed a gold-plated opportunity to extend its range greatly in an era when bog-standard phone lines are increasingly a commodity product.

The technology was cracked many years ago. BT conducted a commercial experiment in Colchester in which people paid for a service. But when it was over, and after £70m or so had been invested, BT came along, took out the equipment, plastered the holes in users' walls and sent the executive responsible, Steve Maine, to run BT India. Maybe the telecoms group was ahead of itself, but it is still rather odd that so little has subsequently happened.

Simon Hockhauser's more recent, brave attempts with Video Networks also came to little - mainly, it was alleged, because of an inability to reach a deal with BT.

As a result, we must now look to France Telecom to see how such a service can be run. The French group launched MaLigne in Lyon in December then in Paris last month. It plans to extend the service to every major French city this year.

BT chairman Sir Christopher Bland, who knows a thing or two about TV, blusters on the issue. 'Either they are ahead of the game technologically or their mouth is bigger than their stomach,' he noted.

In fact, France Telecom, which has done channel deals with the two main French satellite firms, is not shooting its mouth off. The French group acknowledges that to establish a new technology often takes 10 years.

The point is, it is making the necessary investment and getting on with it.

Sir Christopher, the former chairman of both LWT and the BBC, admits BT could be two years away from launching such a service in the UK.

Will it then be too late, given the strength of Sky, the modest recovery of the cable companies and the march of Freeview?

Perhaps. It will certainly be tough, but BT should surely be in a position to offer a competitive package that would at least take on the cable companies.

They have not exactly distinguished themselves as service providers.

As for Sky, the most frequently heard complaint is that it is too dominant in the marketplace. BT is one of the few organisations with the clout to give Sky a run for its money in terms of creating an alternative distribution platform.

Maybe Sir Christopher, who has been interested in a TV presence for BT since he took over as chairman, should hop on the Eurostar to see whether the French really are more mouth than stomach.

- Raymond Snoddy is media editor of The Times

30 SECONDS ON ... TV FROM THE PHONE LINE

- The new service gives French consumers one extra service beyond those offered by broadband - they can access TV via their phone line as well as telephone and the internet.

- It is expected to appeal particularly to apartment residents, for whom accessing digital TV via cable and satellite has been costly.

- Residents of Lyon were the first in France to get MaLigne tv, just before Christmas last year. Paris followed three weeks ago. But only 1000 Lyon consumers have so far signed up.

- A subscription costs 37 euros (£24.70) a month and offers 75 channels, including six movie channels and all the French national stations, plus phone and internet connection.

- The service is a joint venture between France Telecom and digital TV provider TPS. TPS has exclusive distribution deals with studios including Warner Bros and MGM.