The technology -- spearheaded by Cable Labs, the industry's nonprofit research arm -- is intended to blunt the ambitious Internet plans of AT&T and Verizon Communications as they enter the pay television space and offer speedy Web connections through their Lightspeed and Fios services.

Several companies, including Arris, Motorola and Scientific-Atlanta, showcased wideband modems at the Cable Show. But Roberts reportedly told journalists that deployment still could be nearly two years away. And cable industry sources privately acknowledge that the new technology would intensify capacity problems for operators, even forcing some to drop a few cable channels to accommodate wideband.

That is because channel-bonding requires multiple programming slots to create a larger bandwidth pipe for data delivery. The more channels it uses, the faster the Internet connection it can offer. Sources at CableLabs, however, downplayed the capacity concern, explaining that cable's increased reliance on digitized video eases such constraints.

"Cable sees that faster broadband is inevitable, and if they don't offer it, the telcos will," said Paul Gallant, vice president and senior media analyst at the Stanford Washington Research Group. But he cautioned that quicker broadband connections could be a double-edged sword. "Down the road it's possible that video delivered through faster broadband could become a threat to cable's core video business," he said.

Another analyst said there is speculation that Roberts was signaling to Wall Street that cable can compete with the Bells' offerings. Fios is available at speeds of up to 50 megabits per second, faster than today's cable modems but slower than wideband.

During the final general session at the Cable Show on Wednesday, Cox Communications President Patrick Esser marveled at how the business has changed since he entered it in 1979, when providers offered just a dozen channels. With wideband, he said, cable systems will provide 100 megabits per second or more of high-speed Internet bandwidth into homes, compared with the three to six megabits per second available today.

"We'll be the only one able to do that," he said.

George Bodenheimer, the president of ESPN and co-chairman of Disney Media Networks, said the success of wideband lies within its ability to let customers do more things on the Internet.

"Customers don't care about 100 megabits," he said. "It's what they can do with those 100 megabits."

Michael Fries, president of Liberty Global, which operates advanced broadband networks in 16 countries, noted that download speeds of that level already are common in Japan.