Direc TV Group Inc. (NYSE: DTV - message board) advanced its broadband and voice bundling strategy today by striking a wholesale distribution deal with Current Communications Group LLC , an early developer of broadband over powerline (BPL) systems and technologies.

    Under the deal, DirecTV -- still well behind cable in its ability to bundle voice, video, and data services -- will begin marketing a BPL-powered Internet service by the end of this year or early 2008, starting in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, where Current is building a BPL network expected to cover 1.8 million homes and businesses. Current expects to complete that network in about four years.

    The deal also applies to other markets where Current builds out its BPL technology.

    Current also operates an earlier-generation BPL system in Cincinnati in tandem with Duke Energy, which merged with Cinergy in 2005.

    According to Brendan Herron, Current's vice president of corporate development and strategy, the company is in discussions with other utilities in the U.S. and abroad for its BPL system and for Smart Grid, a platform that improves the efficiency of a utility company's electric distribution system. He did not offer details on Current's expansion plans, including locations or the size of future service footprints.

    The BPL system in Cincinnati can deliver symmetrical speeds of 3 Mbit/s, he says. In Texas, a newer version of the technology is expected to produce speeds up to 10 Mbit/s, putting it on a par with some cable modem speed tiers.

    Current has not disclosed how many BPL customers it has in the Cincinnati market. "But we know from experience in Cincinnati, [DirecTV's] customers are going to be happy, also," Herron asserts.

    That DirecTV is giving BPL a close look isn't much of a surprise, considering how things are beginning to line up at the corporate level. John Malone's Liberty Media Corp. (NYSE: LMC - message board), in the process of taking the reins of DirecTV, is a Current backer, alongside other biggies such as Google (Nasdaq: GOOG - message board) and General Electric Co.