[IP] Is broadband set to make power lines sing?
Is broadband set to make power lines sing?
By <mailto:jimh@xxxxxxxx?subject=FEEDBACK:Is broadband set to make power
lines sing?>Jim Hu
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
<http://news.com.com//2100-1034_3-5163739.html?tag=prntfr>http://news.com.com/2100-1034-5163739.html
Story last modified February 24, 2004, 4:00 AM PST
Technical limitations have long frustrated attempts to deliver broadband
Internet access over power lines, but the idea is once again sparking
interest as its backers tout improvements.
News.context
What's new:
Momentum is growing again for broadband over power line technology.
Bottom line:
1547e9a8.jpg
Power lines could soon join coaxial cable, telephone lines and emerging
"last mile" wireless technology as pipes to deliver data into homes.
1547e9f8.jpg
Earlier this month, the Federal Communications Commission proposed rules
for utility companies that seek to offer Internet access through their
electricity grids. The FCC hopes its rules for broadband over power line
(BPL) will help jump-start the use of the grid network to deliver
high-speed Net access to U.S. households, especially in hard-to-reach rural
areas.
"One major objective of Chairman (Michael) Powell is to find ways to
encourage broadband for the entire United States," said Ed Thomas, chief of
the Office of Engineering and Technology at the FCC. "The more options that
are available, and the more capabilities provided, and the more diverse the
entry vehicles, the better off we are."
The proposed BPL rules are limited and notably do not address major policy
issues affecting the electricity industry that are under the remit of local
public utilities commissions. Still, broadband providers and power
companies reacted positively to the FCC move, seeing it as a critical first
step toward making BPL a reality.
Less than a week after the FCC released its proposal, Internet service
provider EarthLink announced it would begin testing a broadband service
using power lines leased from Progress Energy, an electricity company that
serves the Carolinas and central Florida.
EarthLink's test, announced last Wednesday, involves 500 homes in Wake
County, N.C., and could set a major precedent for the nascent BPL industry.
In the trial, Progress Energy will deliver a packet-based broadband signal
through its power lines and then broadcast the signal using Wi-Fi equipment
from Amperion. Test customers access the network using wireless broadband
routers installed in their homes.
"This might give us the ability to have coverage where DSL (digital
subscriber line) and cable might not be," said Kevin Brand, a vice
president of product management at EarthLink. "We're in the very early
stages now, but we see the ability for the technology to evolve to be quite
competitive with DSL and cable."
EarthLink will sell the service under its own brand and will charge people
$19.95 for the first three months, then $39.95 a month after.
Phase two
Progress Energy representatives said they have tested the technology enough
to know it works in a laboratory environment. The EarthLink trials will
determine whether BPL works in practice.
"This is our second phase" for BPL, said Matt Oja, the director of emerging
technologies at Progress Energy. "The first (question) was does it even
work? Now we're marketing it over EarthLink, the retail provider."
The companies expect to make a final decision at the end of the year after
completing the market test.
The idea of turning to
<http://news.com.com//2100-1033-237628.html?tag=nl>power companies as
broadband purveyors has been floating around for many years, including
within the FCC. Power lines are an attractive broadband delivery system
because they are already in place and reach more homes than either cable
systems or telephone lines.
But technology limitations, policy disputes and expensive failures have
consistently left BPL hanging. Power grids were designed for the efficient
delivery of electricity and so bring together a vast network or
transformers to feed a myriad of outputs for household appliances.
To date, BPL has mostly lighted the road to failure. In 1997, Nortel
Networks, a telecommunications equipment maker, teamed up with British
energy company United Utilities and formed Nor.Web, with the goal of
offering broadband over an electricity grid. The venture set up a test in
Manchester, England, but soon discovered a snag in its technology:
Neighboring lampposts were picking up data signals and rebroadcasting them
as radio waves.
The technical problems and the expense of the venture eventually were too
much to bear. Nor.Web shut its doors in 1999.
"I've always been skeptical about the extreme version of broadband over
power line," said Joe Laszlo, an analyst at Jupiter Research. "I think
there are huge problems with the scenario. There are several impediments
along the way that make it harder to transmit data over transformers."
Most of the FCC's proposed rules outline a set of technical standards to
measure the quality of a BPL broadband signal and to create a public
database of available BPL services.
Perhaps the most important regulation addresses signal interference--BPL's
biggest stumbling block. Amateur radio operators and some federal safety
agencies have raised concerns about the effect of BPL on their
communications signals. Without the right technology, it could create more
static on lines that people are already using.
"Any time you put a signal on top of a metallic object such as a power
line, it's going to radiate and I'm going to hear it," said Jim Heynie,
president of the American Radio Relay League, a national amateur radio
association. "The industry has not addressed the reception problem."
The FCC itself is trying to temper expectations for BPL. After the
technical issues, it faces major regulatory hurdles.
Power companies are not regulated by the FCC, but by local public utilities
commissions (PUCs). The FCC just creates rules to open the door for
companies to offer broadband through their wires, but doesn't create rules
for the wire itself. If power companies decide to push broadband
aggressively into the household, a regulatory battle would likely ensue.
"There's very serious debate between the power companies and the local
PUCs," said the FCC's Thomas. "We can foresee a situation where regulations
could kill the infant business before it's born."
BPL proponents counter that the technology has improved to the point that
communities can safely flip the switch. If the FCC's proposed rules take
off, these people argue, there's a good possibility that power lines will
begin delivering data into homes.
"The only knowledge it takes is to find a wall plug," the FCC's Thomas said.
Putting BPL to the test
From an industry point of view, the FCC's decision could open up a new
front in the escalating war to sell broadband to households across the
country. Power lines would join coaxial cable, telephone lines and emerging
"last mile" wireless technology as conduits for delivering data to homes.
The testing of reworked BPL service is already underway in a handful of
communities, including Cincinnati, Ohio; Allentown, Pa.; and Manassas, Va.
Opening the broadband access market to a third industry with considerable
clout could stir up an already bubbling pot. Cable companies currently lead
providers of telephony-based DSL services in broadband market share in U.S.
households. However, figures from the fourth quarter of 2003 show that
cable's growth rate has begun to slow, relative to DSL, according to a
study conducted by
<http://dw.com.com/redir?destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.leichtmanresearch.com%2F&siteId=3&oId=2102-1034-5163739&ontId=1035&lop=nl_ex>Leichtman
Research Group.
Even so, DSL still has a long way to go to catch up. It accounts for 36
percent of the U.S. broadband market, with the remaining 64 percent served
by cable. Much of DSL's recent gains stem from
<http://news.com.com//2100-1034-5152274.html?tag=nl>low-price plans
designed to compete against a more expensive, though faster, cable service.
"The FCC wants to see a third broadband provider out there, and they want
it to be facilities-based," said Brett Kilbourne, the director of
regulatory services at the United Power Line Council, an organization of
electric companies interested in BPL.
CNET News.com's John Borland contributed to this report.
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