power tower
Welcome to Broadband over Power Line World™
In addition to being transmissible over DSL phone lines, co-axial cable, and wireless, broadband Internet connectivity can also be provided to users over power lines. When it is, it becomes available at every electric outlet in every room in the home or office.
Etopia Media News Networks is now creating this Broadband over Power Line World™ web site to provide our listeners and readers with the best current information about this rapidly growing segment of the Internet access universe.
FCC inaugurates a new era for broadband over power line
On October 14, 2004, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
announced that it had adopted "rules for broadband over power lines to increase competition and promote broadband service to all Americans."
On October 28, 2004, the FCC released the official
"Report and Order" implementing that action.
These actions opened a new era for the distribution of broadband connectivity over power lines.
Broadband over Power Line World will be reporting on the dawning of that new era and its future evolution and development.
United Power Line Council strongly supports broadband over power line
One good source of information about this area is the web site of the
United Power Line Council. The United Power Line Council (UPLC) is "an alliance of electric utilities and technology companies working together to drive the development of broadband over power line (BPL) - broadband services over the existing distribution electrical grid and in-home electrical wiring."
A recent item about broadband over power line in the UK
One recent item about broadband over power line (BPL) may sound negative, but may not really be so.
On November 4, 2004, the ZDNet UK reported, in
"Broadband over power lines gets poor reception," that BPL may not be widely and rapidly adopted in the UK because "consumers don't seem to trust their electricity suppliers to provide a reliable and properly supported Internet connection over power lines."
If U.S. power consumers/potential BPL users have a higher estimate of the reliability of the utilities that supply them with electricity, rates of BPL use in the U.S. may tend to be higher than in the UK. Obviously, more research needs to be done to determine the level of confidence of U.S. power/Internet users in their utilities as providers of these two essential services.
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