Based around a Bittorent format, the peer-to-peer system hopes to create a Europe-wide standard for IPTV without straining the continent’s servers.

It is expected that the project, titled P2P Next, will be able to stream live content such as football matches and other major events and handle stored content for download.

Twenty-one other partners, including the BBC, VTT technical research centre in Finland, and the European Broadcast Union will be contributing an additional £3.7m to the four year project, which they hope will be able to co-exist with more established IPTV channels such as BBC’s iPlayer (which already uses some peer-to-peer technology) and Channel 4’s 4OD.

"There is a market for both IPTV/P2P and traditional, network produced content, running in parallel with each other. IPTV/P2P offers opportunities for both strands to deliver to the consumer, no matter how it is viewed," said Len Padilla, Senior Director of Engineering at NTT Europe Online - providers of managed hosting, security and application management services.

"What IPTV/P2P represents is the disintermediation of distribution; the removal of intermediary regulators and a direct link between creator (pro or amateur) and audience. What it doesn’t mean is an end to traditional broadcast rights; in many cases the rights determine the manner of distribution, which includes IPTV.

P2P content offers authenticity to the viewer, whilst network output provides high production values, or ’slickness’. A proposed standard for IPTV/P2P delivery is not a threat to broadcast television; it is an opportunity to provide TV audiences with a greater range of quality content along side a regulated choice of viewing options," continued Padilla.

According to Jari Ahola, from the VTT technical research centre in Finland, parts of the system will be made available by August 2008 with a more complete system allowing content to be viewed on TV rather than the PC estimated to follow around 10 months after.
The project will also incorporate aspects of Tribler, a technology that allows viewers to communicate with one another currently in development at the Delft University of Technology.

Paul Cleghorn of social media aggregator for television and content discovery site TIOTI, is not convinced of the benefits of the investment by the EU.

"Although it looks like a very interesting project, as did Tribbler - the research project that came before, it’s not entirely clear what benefit will arise from the EU sponsoring this level of technology. Because we’re talking about open Internet-based technology here, the need for cast-iron standards (like the DVB set of digital video broadcasting standards that power Freeview) isn’t required.  One might also question the timeliness of the technology proposed over four years when we already are doing VOD now, streaming too," said Cleghorn.