Dr John Papandriopoulos, a Melbourne (Australia) PhD student, has developed an xDSL based technology that is capable of pushing data at speeds of up to 250Mbps over copper telephone wiring (e.g. BT’s current infrastructure).

Existing ADSL2+ technology is capable of delivering broadband speeds up to 24Mbps, which can be pushed a little higher using a mix of other technologies (e.g. Fibre & VDSL2). Papandriopoulos has patent applications for the technology being processed in the US and Australia.

It's understood that the technology uses mathematic modelling to reduce the interference that typically occurs on older infrastructure. However what's not known is how well such technology would work over distance. Unfortunately such a breakthrough could take years to become market ready.