WASHINGTON-Broadband over Power Lines is a reality but it won’t be much better than current high-speed offerings, according to speakers at a recent panel discussing the technology.
“BPL is moving beyond the theoretical stage,” said Joseph Fergus, president and chief executive officer of Communications Technologies Inc., also known as ComTek, which owns and operates a BPL service in Manassas, Va. “BPL is finally here and will become the broadband of choice for millions of consumers in 2005 and beyond.”
While Fergus is a cheerleader for the service, Robert Olsen, professor of electrical engineering at Washington State University, was more cautious.
“The power system was not designed for this purpose,” said Olsen. “You can get communications data rates rather comparable to digital subscriber lines and/or cable modems. Much higher rates are overly optimistic,” said Olsen.
Fergus and Olsen were invited to comment on a new report by the New Millennium Research Council.
The report “which advocates no policy” was compiled because “BPL is getting attention but it does not seem to be understood,” said Allen Hepner, New Millennium Research Council executive director.
The Federal Communications Commission in October adopted rules allowing BPL. The rules set certain technical parameters but have not yet been tested so “no operational definition of `harmful interference’ has been established,” said Olsen.
Fergus said there might be a role for wireless to play in the deployment of BPL by using either cell towers or unlicensed spectrum for part of the network.
Barry Goodstadt, vice president and senior consultant at Harris Interactive, said some companies have used Wi-Fi as the last link in the transmission chain. “There are hybrid systems out there that use both Wi-Fi and BPL,” said Goodstadt.
