[ILQSO] Article from IL Dept of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Newsletter

[John Schneider]

Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) Tutorial Hosted by Illinois Commerce
Commission 

The Illinois Commerce Commission recently hosted a Broadband over Power
Lines (BPL) in Chicago. This information session emphasized broadband's
basics and exposed new technology's promising potential. BPL uses low
voltage power lines to deliver broadband service through electric
outlets. BPL
<outbind://22-00000000EB0D08CDF97F2145819D2410228CD02B07001931056060A38E
45B0A1245843657C170000000D153900001931056060A38E45B0A1245843657C17000000
6D4CB90000/cid:image017.jpg at 01C5A417.C70D2E20> provides a broadband
option to residential and commercial end users. Many consumers are
unable to obtain broadband services from their local phone or cable
companies (availability, cost, etc.). Every customer has an electric
wire into their premises, and BPL opens the door to obtain broadband
service over the existing electric line. It is relatively inexpensive,
compared to other broadband options, since distribution lines are
already in place. BPL also has a tremendous potential for enhancing the
operability of the electric grid itself. It provides utility companies
with the capabilities to: read meters from a remote source, determine
outages on the system, provide better price signals to customers,
promote energy efficiency by controlling appliances within a household,
and monitor the overall security of the power system. The Federal
Communications Commission concluded that Illinois ranked 27th in
broadband penetration, despite being the nation's sixth most populous
state. BPL offers an opportunity to improve broadband access.