[Swprograms] OT: BPL update, Emmaus, PA

[Richard Cuff <rdcuff@xxxxxxxxx>]

The following appeared in Allentown, PA's newspaper today.

It's relevant because the initial Emmaus foray into BPL was the
location documented by the ARRL's Ed Hare in his video that many have
seen.

Emmaus was selected for its BPL trial in part because it had no other
high-speed Internet options.  Now it has options.

Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA

---

Emmaus suddenly awash in technology

Once short of high-speed Internet access, the region now has choices.

By Sam Kennedy
Of The Morning Call

August 26, 2005

Emmaus, welcome to the information age.

The borough and the surrounding area, long lacking the Internet access
that other places take for granted, suddenly are awash in technology.

Cable company Service Electric Cable TV & Communications is rebuilding
much of its Emmaus-area network from scratch, making possible
high-speed Internet access by early next year — not to mention
expanded cable TV and alternative telephone services. And telephone
company Verizon has introduced experimental ''fixed wireless''
broadband service, which carries the Internet over radio waves.

Electric company PPL Corp., meanwhile, continues to offer its
broadband-over-power line service in some neighborhoods. The
futuristic technology provides a high-speed Internet connection
through electrical wires and power outlets.

''We've gone from famine to feast,'' said Emmaus Borough Manager Bruce
Fosselman. ''For years we couldn't get anything. ... Now we're
cutting-edge.''

High-speed Internet access, or broadband — the two terms are used
interchangeably — is necessary to surf the Web and download e-mail
attachments quickly. Some activities, such as video conferencing, are
impossible on old-fashioned dial-up Internet access, which runs on
standard telephone lines.

The Lehigh Valley is dotted with places that do not have either of the
two most common sources of high-speed Internet access: a cable modem
or DSL, a digital subscriber line. But the Emmaus area — hamstrung by
the aging wires of a company that abandoned the cable business and a
telephone company that was gobbled up by a competitor — stands out
because it is so large, densely populated and centrally located.

It was a suburb unable to offer the technology that has become such an
important part of suburban life. Indeed, some small businesses
initially interested in setting up shop in Emmaus ultimately decided
to go elsewhere after they learned of the borough's deficiency,
according to Gene Clock, president of the Emmaus Main Street program.

''To be connected to the Web is critical,'' he said. ''It's just a
fact of life today.''

In the Valley, about a third of households have a cable modem or DSL,
while more than half rely on dial-up, according to a recent survey
conducted by Scarborough Research.

Service Electric is stringing 43 miles of fiber-optic cables and 93
miles of coaxial cables in Emmaus and parts of Upper Milford, Upper
Saucon and Salisbury townships.

The project will reach about 6,000 homes, giving residents an array of
products: expanded cable TV service, including additional stations and
high-definition programming; telephone service; and Internet access
with a download speed of 3.5 megabits per second.

Verizon Avenue, a subsidiary of telecom giant Verizon Communications,
launched its experimental fixed wireless Internet service in Emmaus
last month — its fifth such project nationwide.

The technology uses unlicensed radio spectrum to carry the Internet
signal between centrally located transceivers and antennas mounted on
the outside of homes and businesses. The antennas, in turn, are
connected by wires to computer modems.

>From the customers' perspective, fixed wireless broadband is similar
to DSL in both price and performance. Basic residential service costs
as little as $40 a month; the download speed is 1.5 megabits per
second.

''You need that kind of bandwidth... Dial-up just doesn't cut it,''
said Kerry Reitnauer, manager of Kane Electric, which began using
Verizon's service last week.

Now, simple tasks such as downloading product manuals don't eat up so
much time, he said. ''It's hard to calculate the savings, but it's
there.''

While Verizon's fixed wireless service is aimed primarily at Emmaus
residents, it will be available at some homes just outside the
borough, according to a company spokesman.

Service Electric's project stretches way beyond Emmaus, encompassing
the Sammons Communications network it bought in 1996.

Sammons once controlled cable franchises throughout the country,
including Easton and Phillipsburg. But by the mid-1990s, as it became
clear the Internet would require cable providers to pour resources
into new technology, the company decided to get out of the cable
business altogether.

The former Sammons networks in Easton and Phillipsburg could be
improved with simple upgrades, but the one in Emmaus needed much more,
said John Turner, a Service Electric field manager. Plans to build a
new network took form more than a year ago, and the physical work —
stringing cable on telephone poles — began this summer.

Turner described the process: By the end of the year, new wires will
run parallel to old ones along utility poles — both systems fully
functional. Then, homes will be switched, one by one, from the old
system to the new. Finally, the old wires will be removed from the
poles.

Service Electric spokesman Jack Capparell was vague about the cost of
the project: ''A substantial amount ... millions.''

Verizon, too, has been stymied by another company's infrastructure —
in its case, that of GTE Corp., which it acquired in a 2000 merger.
(After taking over GTE, Bell Atlantic changed its name to Verizon.)

Upgrading Emmaus' outdated telephone infrastructure for DSL would be
too costly, the company has said. The fixed wireless broadband service
that was launched instead is comparatively inexpensive because it does
not require wires to be buried or strung from poles.

sam.kennedy@xxxxxxxxx

610-820-6517

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