call Jersey Central Power and Lighting daily with interference
complaints.
Luckily they have a toll free number:)
Bill
KA2EMZ
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joel Rubin" <jmrubin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <swprograms@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, October 28, 2004 5:53 AM
Subject: [Swprograms] NY Times article on BPL
> http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/28/technology/circuits/28howw.html
>
> The New York Times
> October 28, 2004
> HOW IT WORKS
> Plugging Into the Net, Through the Humble Wall Outlet
> By TOM McNICHOL
>
> 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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