Here it comes gang - Google investing in powerline internet transmission

[wvjohn]

and they are probably smart enough and have enough $$ to make it work

let the price wars begin

Google invests in powerline Internet

Goldman, Hearst also investors in company that provides Web access over electrical power lines.
July 7, 2005: 1:43 PM EDT




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NEW YORK (Reuters) - A company that provides high-speed Internet access over electrical power lines said Thursday it has received a major investment from Google, the Hearst Corp. and Goldman Sachs.

Current Communications Group said it would use the financing to accelerate its deployment of voice, video and data services in domestic and global markets. The company declined to disclose financial terms of the investment, though the Wall Street Journal reported that it approached $100 million.

Current's service is available primarily in Cincinnati, Ohio, through a partnership with Cinergy Corp. (Research), with smaller deployments in Maryland and Hawaii.

"Clearly the technology is ready to be pushed into new markets and we are spending a great deal of our time trying to do that," said Scott Bruce, managing director of Current and its major backer, Liberty Associated Partners. "It's already commercial and ready for prime time."

Internet access over power lines is seen as a way to deliver broadband service to rural areas where telephone and cable lines do not reach, or where various forms of wireless access are too expensive or not yet in place.

There is even a standards body, the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, with specifications for data transfer within the home and from external sources to the home over electrical lines. It counts Sony Corp. (Research) and Comcast Corp. (Research) among its most prominent members.

The technology has not gained significant traction yet among consumers, though, as it is not widely offered. Other technologies like the wireless WiMax standard have received more attention as a way to get the Internet to distant places.

But Bruce said Google's (Research) investment in Germantown, Maryland-based Current fit right in with the Internet search giant's philosophy of spreading Internet access.

"Our attraction for having a relationship with Google is sort of obvious. They're interested in the proliferation of broadband generally," he said.

Google said in a statement it was "very excited to have a relationship with Current Communications Group to help promote better access to the Internet."

The company already has a number of deals with broadband providers for various content and search services, Comcast among them.

A top Hearst executive said the investment fit in with the media company's distribution strategy.

"We have an interest in delivering our content through the widest possible pipes," said Ken Bronfin, president of interactive media for Hearst. "The idea of creating another delivery mechanism to the home, especially in underserved areas, is attractive."

A spokesman for Goldman Sachs (Research) confirmed the investment but declined

[blade]

Just plain wow!

Never thought of that, net through power lines. Amazin' :


What's next, net through static electricity?

[Badmojo]

dont get your hopes to high this tech is almost as old as cable modems...

[FlyingPenguin]

I wouldn't hold my breath. This has been discussed before. There are severe limitations to this technology that - due to the design of American power systems - limit it's usefulness and cost effectiveness.

The problem is that broadband can't pass through a transformer so everywhere there's a transformer, you have to bridge it with a capacitor to let the broadband through.

In Europe this is practical because they use centralized transformers so there are few retrofits required.

In the US we use a de-centralized power grid with smaller transformers on the poles - each transformer serving 10 - 20 houses. This is a more robust system (one transformer is knocked out, only a few homes lose power) BUT it makes it VERY expensive to retrofit the power grid for broadband.

[ZYFER]

Originally posted by blade
Just plain wow!

Never thought of that, net through power lines. Amazin' :


What's next, net through static electricity?

actually... its already possible to pass data using static electricity
Though, I would just be happy with Verizon FIOS in my area, thats not much to ask for...

[Pugsley]

out here just about every house has its own transformer. its great. nice clean 200A service.

[123cool]

yeah here in england you can set up a network using the 3 point plug sockets... no idea how it works though... if im just being stupid here ill let you slap me... if they used the ground wire wouldnt the signal just head for well the ground, if using the live wire wouldnt that cause spikes? and surely the signal would get messed with the electricity going along the wire? =S

[FlyingPenguin]

You can broadcast ANY radio signal on a power line easily, 123cool. You can buy in-home routers and NICs that use the power lines in your house (not very common here in the states for technical reasons) and you can also buy remote control devices to turn your lights on and off from a computer.

The problem is that radio signals don't pass through step up/step down transformers. So if you're broadcasting from a central station, you need to bridge EVERY SINGLE transformer in the system with a capacitor to allow the radio signal to bypass the transformer.

In most of Europe the design of the power grid lends itself easily to this because the transformers are all in sub-stations (less capacitors required). In the U.S. we only put the large very high voltage stepdown transformers in the substations (these reduce the voltage in long distance hi-tension lines to a manageable 22Kvolt or so for distribution in a rural area). We then use smaller transformers to step down the 22Kvolt to 220 volts at each home or business (usually a small transformer on the pole spaced every 1/2 mile or so). This makes it VERY uneconomical to send broadband because ever single transformer needs to be bridged by a capacitor.

Why do we do this in the U.S.? Because it's more redundant and survives damage easier. In the east and the Gulf coast we're prone to hurricanes, in the midwest tornados, and on the west coast earthquakes. A few small transformers get knocked out you just lose a few neighborhoods instead of half a city.

In hurricane prone areas like where I live there's also a fuse on EVERY SINGLE POLE so that if one pole gets knocked over it doesn't kill a large area when the fuse blows.

Very rugged system compared to most of the rest of the world.

[Pugsley]

so rugged that a 3 dollar relay can nock out power to most of the east coast!

[123cool]

ok thanx for clearing that up for me FP.

[wvjohn]

http://www.technologyreview.com/article ... ellweg.asp


The company offers a three-megabit-per-second broadband package, comparable to many cable-based broadband offerings, for $35 per month. It's not price that Current is competing on, though, says Kushman, but the fact that, with BPL, the uploading speed is the same as the downloading speed, around 3 megabits per second.

In other broadband mediums, the upstream speed can be considerably slower than downstream. Further, Kushman says their BPL customers like not having to deal with a router. The company gives subscribers one free adapter with the service, and sells additional adapters for $30 each.

Wes Warnock, a spokesperson for SBC Communications, the largest telephone-line-based broadband provider in the country, won't comment on the IBM/CenterPoint trial, but says that SBC's consumers are satisfied with the 416 K bits per second upstream speed of DSL. "Our feedback shows it serves them well," he says.

[Pugsley]

Ok now the = UD speeds make me want to have it even if its only 1 mip. i wonder why normal ISPs seem to have such a shortage of upload speed?