Today, there are largely no communications infrastructure deployments in European medium and low voltage power distribution networks. Powerline communications has a large potential to enable new and intelligent applications to and from the last branch of the distribution grid. However, current powerline communication technologies cannot offer the reliability, quality of service and interoperability that is required for such applications.DLC+VIT4IP will develop, verify and test a high-speed narrow-band powerline communications infrastructure using the Internet Protocol (IP) which is capable of supporting existing and extending new and multiple communication applications. These shall include the existing power distribution network for novel services in smart electricity distribution networks such as demand side management, control of distributed generation and customer integration.From a communication perspective, the powerline network offers advantages in coverage, costs and availability. On the application side the Internet protocol (IP) suite is an increasingly used protocol stack in many supervisory and control application fields which include the energy sector.To efficiently integrate both technologies and achieve the necessary performance and reliability DLC+VIT4IP will extend existing PLC technologies by developing:1.\tEfficient transport of the IP(v6) protocol2.\tAutomatic measurement, configuration and management3.\tSecurity4.\tReal-time capabilities5.\tChannel models and simulation tools for network planning and designModels and the developed system will be tested and verified in a field test.Outcomes of the project will include a prototype for a high performance communications infrastructure, simulation and planning tools. Testing and conformance rules for application developers and users to choose an appropriate technology for their needs are key driver for end use. Many of these outcomes will be transferred to standardisation.