Feds: Power Lines Promising for Internet

[renovation]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/200301 ... 3TKG2.html

Jan 16, 12:10 AM (ET)

By DAVID HO

WASHINGTON (AP) - The same power lines that bring electricity to televisions and toasters may become the next pathway into homes for high-speed Internet access, federal officials said Wednesday.

They said the technology offers an alternative to cable and telephone lines as a way to get broadband service, with its ability to quickly deliver large amounts of data and high-quality video signals.

"Every power plug in your home becomes a broadband connection," said Edmond Thomas, chief of the Federal Communications Commission's Office of Engineering and Technology. He said companies developing the technology have overcome many hurdles in the past year.

"It's starting to look like a very viable technology," said Thomas, who described the technology in a presentation to the agency's five commissioners. "We're very excited."


But it is uncertain whether most consumers will get to use it anytime soon, said Mark Uncapher, senior vice president with the Information Technology Association of America, a Washington-based trade group.

"It is still very much an open question just how commercially feasible it is," he said. "It's going to need a company or companies that are really going to champion it."

Internet access over electric lines would be similar in capability to connections over cable modems and telephone DSL, Thomas said.

Such an alternative could lead to more competition and lower prices, Uncapher said.

The FCC has been studying the technology for several months and will pay more attention to it this year, Thomas said. He said no regulations prohibit the technology, but the agency is concerned that Internet transmissions carried over power lines could emit signals inside and outside the home that could cause interference.

"We want to make darn sure this isn't going to cause problems to your TV," he said.

Utility companies PPL Corp. in Allentown, Pa., and Ameren Corp. (AEE) in St. Louis are conducting trial programs with consumers to test the technology, representatives of the companies said.

"It is working," said Alan Shark, president of the Power Line Communications Association, which is promoting the technology. The trade group includes Internet companies including Earthlink and 11 utility companies that provide power to about 30 million homes.

Earthlink, the No. 3 Internet service provider, has been in talks with utility companies, exploring partnerships to develop and market the technology, said Dave Baker, the company's vice president for law and public policy.

"The engineering challenges are largely being overcome," Baker said. "The biggest challenges now are getting the product to market."

Shark said the technology works by sending information over existing electric power lines. Cables carrying high-speed Internet information would likely be linked to electric lines after they have left power stations. Internet connections could then flow directly into the power outlets in homes and offices or to an outdoor pole that broadcasts a wireless broadband signal to a neighborhood.

The current technology can not send signals over high-voltage lines that carry greater amounts of electricity to isolated areas, Shark said.

Shark said the technology has other potential benefits, including helping utilities monitor the condition of power lines and providing a back up communications system for communities worried about terrorism, natural disasters or other emergencies.

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[FlyingPenguin]

Well this isn't new, unless there's some new tech involved. They're starting to use it in parts of Europe.

However, the original information I read a year ago mentioned it wouldn't be cost effective here in the US. The signals can't go through transformers, so you have to have a signal bypass inductor on every power pole transformer. You can do that in the UK because utilties there centralize their transformers - they're not on the pole, but instead they use large transformers in substations to power entire neigborhoods.

In the US power companies use a more distributed power system with transformers on the poles - usually one transformer per 8 or so houses. The economies of scale make it VERY expensive to adapt this to the US.

However, they are starting to sell power line wireless network gear for in-home use. I've seen them at Office Depot. Plug a router into a wall outlet and all your workstations have a NIC that plug into wall outlets and they use the house electrical wiring to carry the network signals.

[Pugsley]

1 transformer for 8 houses? thats insane! Out here everybody has thier own transformer on the pole. then again... its for bringing 4kv down to 240. unlike in the city where 1.2kv is brought down to 220.