[opendtv] News: Plugging Into the Net, Through the Humble Wall Outlet

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/28/technology/circuits/28howw.html?th

Plugging Into the Net, Through the Humble Wall Outlet
By TOM McNICHOL

Published: October 28, 2004

HIGH-speed Internet access usually comes to homes through one of two 
wires: a telephone line for D.S.L. subscribers, or a coaxial cable 
for cable modem users. But an emerging technology known as broadband 
over power lines, or B.P.L., may soon offer a third wire into homes, 
channeling high-speed data through a somewhat improbable conduit: an 
ordinary electrical outlet.

B.P.L. is the ultimate in plug-and-play. Users plug a small power 
line modem into any wall outlet and then connect the modem to a 
computer with a U.S.B. or Ethernet cable, or through a wireless Wi-Fi 
connection. The appeal of B.P.L. is that most of the wiring for the 
network is in place. Although data must be carefully routed over the 
electric grid to prevent interference and signal degradation, there 
is no need to dig up streets or rewire homes.

Two weeks ago the Federal Communications Commission adopted rule 
changes to encourage the technology in the hope of making broadband 
more widely available and fostering greater competition among 
high-speed Internet providers.

Internet service over power lines is probably a year or more away 
from becoming widely available, but the F.C.C.'s ruling is expected 
to spur investment in B.P.L. by utilities.

"Three or four years ago, the technology was not ready for prime 
time, but now we know it is," said Jay Birnbaum, vice president and 
general counsel for Current Communications of Germantown, Md., which 
makes B.P.L. equipment. "And we've gotten the cost down, so it's 
competitive with other broadband services."

The idea of using electric power lines to send data is not new; 
companies have been working on it for a decade. The major technical 
challenge has been how to send bursts of radio frequency energy over 
power lines without interfering with other radio signals, 
particularly ham radio and public safety frequencies.

The recent F.C.C. ruling establishes frequency bands that B.P.L. 
signals must avoid to protect aeronautical and Coast Guard 
communications, and sets up a publicly available database for 
resolving claims of harmful interference from private radio operators.

B.P.L. has been tested in small field trials for several years, 
involving about 5,000 customers in 18 states. Cinergy, a power 
company in the Midwest, recently began offering B.P.L. to homes in 
the Cincinnati area for $30 to $50 a month, depending on connection 
speed. The company says it hopes to have B.P.L. equipment in more 
than 50,000 homes by the end of the year.

Cinergy is also marketing B.P.L. to smaller municipal and cooperative 
power companies, particularly in rural areas.

"We felt those municipal and cooperative power companies are a 
terrific market because many of those areas are underserved by D.S.L. 
and cable," said Bill Grealis, a Cinergy executive vice president.

Adding a data channel to the power lines also has potential benefits 
for the utilities themselves. By reserving a sliver of the B.P.L. 
data channel for themselves, power companies can use the network to 
identify problems and accomplish troubleshooting remotely, rather 
than sending out a crew.

Down the road, utilities could install Internet-enabled meters and 
switches to offer automated meter reading, power demand management 
and time-of-day pricing.

"Our main interest in B.P.L. is using it to better manage our 
utility," said Bob Dobkin, a spokesman for Pepco, which is based in 
Washington. Pepco has a pilot B.P.L. program in about 500 homes in 
Potomac, Md. "It enables you to identify problems without having to 
send someone out."

While B.P.L. holds promise, there are unanswered questions about the 
technology. One F.C.C. commissioner, Michael J. Copps, dissented in 
part with the commission's recent action, saying the agency had 
failed to address issues such as whether electricity customers pay 
higher monthly bills to subsidize their utility's foray into 
broadband.

"We're great on technology, but not so good on working out the rules 
of the road," Mr. Copps said. "Nearly all of the industrialized 
nations except the U.S. have national plans for broadband. We don't 
have any comprehensive strategy."

Mr. Copps and others note that the United States has lately become a 
broadband laggard; it ranks 13th in the world in broadband 
penetration, behind countries such as Japan, Korea, Denmark and 
Iceland. Many believe one main reason is cost. While Americans 
typically pay $40 to $50 monthly for a D.S.L. or cable modem 
connection, the Japanese, for example, pay $10 to $15 a month for 
even faster connections.

American broadband consumers, in short, get less bit for the buck.

Will B.P.L. bring down the cost of broadband?

Mr. Grealis of Cinergy will say only that the cost of a B.P.L. 
connection will be competitive with D.S.L., cable and wireless. It 
remains to be seen whether the third wire into the home turns out to 
be a cheaper alternative or more like the third gas station on a 
corner, battling the competition at remarkably similar prices.



 
 
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