[Swprograms] PPL Nixes BPL

[Richard Cuff <rdcuff@xxxxxxxxx>]

Happy day today --

PPL, the Lehigh Valley's electric utility and an early experimenter
with BPL market tests, has decided to abandon further efforts to
commercialize the technology.  There will be a full article in
tomorrow's Allentown newspaper, but here is the text in a
late-afternoon update:

---

October 3, 2005

PPL has decided not to enter the market as a broadband Internet
provider over its power lines following a trial in some Lehigh Valley
markets, the company reported on its Web site Monday.

The company will end the market trial for residential customers on
Oct. 31. Locations affected by the decision include Emmaus, Whitehall,
Upper Macungie, Hanover Township and north Bethlehem.

PPL said it will fulfill its contractual commitments with
institutional customers in south Bethlehem and center city Allentown.

"While our market trials indicate that BPL technology is promising,
the combination of a competitive marketplace and the need for
significant scale has led us to the decision not to proceed as a
retail communications service provider," said David Kelley, president
– PPL Telcom in a press release.

PPL has notified residential market trial customers in those areas of
its decision. The company will give those customers a $50 credit to
ease the transition to another Internet service provider.

The ending of the trial does not result in any material financial
accounting impacts on PPL.

---

Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA

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