[EIDXA] BPL not a threat -- for now

Sun Oct 17 14:58:12 EDT 2004

BPL Not A Threat, For Now

Industry watches developing
broadband-over-power-line technology.

By Mark Rockwell
October 15, 2004
Wireless Week

Wireless carriers aren't yet too concerned about
broadband-over-power line (BPL) technology, but
BPL has become more than a fanciful notion and
is lining up to be another source of competition.

BPL transmission technology uses the same electrical
grid, wiring and outlets that provide houses with
electricity to power appliances. In the last few years,
the once far-fetched idea of using the same system
for high-speed Internet access has turned into a
reasonably reliable, useable transmission technology
that power companies are offering in some limited
areas. In fact, after years of championing it as a third
alternative to wireline and wireless broadband services,
the FCC is poised to issue the first set of rules governing
the services.

Electricity powers just about every home in the United
States, which makes the technology appealing for
spreading high-speed Internet access to as many people
as possible — and offering some an alternative to cable,
wireline and wireless broadband access. The power-line
connection offers capabilities similar to DSL and cable
modems, as well as wireless broadband access, analysts
say. That combination of wide distribution and capabilities
would seem to set it up as a direct competitor to emerging
Wi-Fi and WiMAX services that offer capabilities to areas
that can't get wireline DSL or cable modem services.

FCC Chairman Michael Powell has championed BPL
technology as another viable competitor to wireline,
cable and wireless broadband services, pushing the
rules initiative along at the commission.

The rules will offer a framework for BPL service providers
to offer more uniform services and draw lines on possible
radio interference issues. Brett Kilbourne, director of
regulatory services and associate counsel at the United
Telecom Council (UTC), says the rules most likely will
provide guidelines on interference with high-frequency
radio communications and set up a procedure to report
and remedy interference problems at the FCC. BPL
transmission has two sources of interference, the first
being from the power line itself. The second potentially
arises at points where signals are injected or extracted
from power lines.

Ham radio operators, for example, have criticized the
technology's interference potential, saying they're
concerned the errant emission from BPL services could
bleed into their spectrum. In a letter to Powell, the
Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) said the FCC hadn't
released the results of its interference tests and urged
more protection. "Because the FCC has been unwilling
to release for public review the results of its own test
and observations of BPL systems, the ARRL has no
confidence that the draft Report & Order will be based
on sound engineering," said David Sumner, chief executive
of ARRL. Sumner added that without adequate safeguards,
BPL deployment "will result in the pollution and degradation
of the unique natural resource of the high-frequency radio
spectrum."

Wireless industry reaction to the advance of a possibly
competing technology is a low-key "bring it on." Some
carriers, especially large mainstream service providers,
aren't taking the emerging technology seriously – at least,
not yet. "We'll compete with this mythological technology"
when the time comes, says Jeffrey Nelson, spokesman
for Verizon Wireless.

Even wireless carriers serving markets that would seem
to be primed for BPL connections — rural and underserved
markets — aren't too concerned about its immediate impact.
"We're watching it," says Andrew Kreig, president of
Wireless Communications Association International, a group
that represents emerging Wi-Fi providers. Wi-Fi services have
become a "go-to" broadband service in some areas of the
country that don't have easy access to wireline telephone
or cable access services. Because BPL reaches those places,
it would seem to rival Wi-Fi. Kreig says any facilities-based
provider is a welcome addition to a competitive market.

Wi-Fi and BPL interests are currently of the mind that there
is room for many broadband access technologies in the future
and no single one will trump the other. "When you look at
broadband, no one technology will win,'" says Bill Moroney,
UTC president and CEO. "Broadband churn is tremendous,"
he says, even compared to wireless churn. Broadband users
will take the services that best serve their needs and locations
and not necessarily base that decision on the underlying
technology, Moroney says. Carriers probably will use a variety
of technologies to reach customers.

"It may well be that BPL or WiMAX is installed by a provider
at first," he adds. "That technology may reach capacity,
requiring the carrier to install a fiber line … It's all a matter
of who can or who is willing to pay" to install the lines and
what's most cost-effective for the carrier and the customer.

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