Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Broadband over power lines sparks interest again

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 05 Mar 2004 10:19:35 -0500

Story URL:
http://insight.zdnet.co.uk/communications/wireless/0,39020430,39147346,00.htm

Broadband over power lines sparks interest again
Jim Hu
CNET News.com
February 25, 2004, 11:36 GMT

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.

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 US 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, which is 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 (£10.58) 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 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 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:
neighbouring 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 sceptical 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," the FCC's Thomas said. "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," 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 under way in a handful of
communities, including Cincinnati; Allentown, Pennsylvania; and
Manassas, Virginia.

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 US 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 Leichtman Research
Group.

Even so, DSL still has a long way to go to catch up. It accounts for 36
percent of the US broadband market, with the remaining 64 percent served
by cable. Much of DSL's recent gains stem from 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 organisation of
electric companies interested in BPL.

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