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"It’s strange that most of the people here have high-speed access at work yet they still don’t have it at home," Berry said.

Many agreed that you could start the story of the growing broadband sector with a cautionary tale
or two. But they believe that, despite that uncertainty, there are ample opportunities for
money to be made.

Currently, fewer than 10 million U.S. households have broadband Internet connections, but there is a growing desire for it, according to industry reports.

But which direction this market will grow is still not concrete.

"Broadband is a runaway market," said Michael Agostinelli, vice president of G.E./Americon Communications. "How we channel and direct it into a profitable business is the key."

Loral’s Berry suggested that a combination of satellite service and fiber optics is a likely scenario.

Home servers are going to revolutionize the internet by combining consumers’ television sets with their computers, he said.

"Did TV stay the same in the 1950s," Berry said. "No, this is a very fast growing market where brilliant minds are working at warp speed."

A study released this week by Forrester Research suggests that when it comes to broadband content, TV will be the divisive force.

Called "Broadband Content Splits," the report written by analyst Bruce Casrel, says that in the next few years, video-heavy, lightly interactive multimedia will flow to TVs. More interactive, software-driven packages will run into PCs, the report said.

It also predicts that, within two years, TV set-top boxes and modem-equipped game consoles will bring broadband to 9 million TV screens. This will inevitably cause a fundamental shift in the market, the report said.

"Entertainment content will flow away from uncomfortable PCs in the den, toward comfy couches in front of the living room TV set," Casrel wrotes. "PCs will be left for practical, task-oriented activities."

Once broadband access begins to take hold, Casrel said, two factors will come into play that will determine which side of the split broadband content will fall - the types of content being delivered, and the development of appropriate devices at which to aim specific forms of rich content.

"(Devices) are going to become, I think, more and more important," Casrel said, adding that he expected there will be "broadband-connected devices all over the house." TVs and modem-equipped game consoles will be the most prevalent non-PC broadband content receptors, Casrel said. "But you can add in home stereos, home security monitors, audio boxes" and the like, he said.

Presently, there are 7,000 television channels available to consumers, according to Stephen Chenard of Paris-based Euroconsult, a research firm. "And that number has the potential to double in the next nine years provided there is good quality content on those channels," he said.