[MIham] BPL coming to Michigan

[Hank Kohl K8DD]

Got this today from a friend at one of the utilities.  Pass it on to 
anyone you can think of who might not be on this mailing list.

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This is part of a message from a Motorola salesman:

Just go this a little while ago and though you'd be interested. A BPL 
vendor hasn't been decided on as far as I know.


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and a press release.  I have the original pdf file - if anyone wants a 
copy of it, email me and I'll send it.


PRESS RELEASE
NYACK, NY (January 31, 2005) --The Shpigler Group, Inc., a broadband 
services company and Consumers Energy, a regulated electric and natural 
gas utility operating in Michigan, announced today that they are 
pursuing a commercial deployment of Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) 
within Consumers Energy's service territory.
Under the agreement between the two companies, Consumers Energy will 
take the role of the "landlord", and will not actively operate or own 
the BPL operation, but rather will support The Shpigler Group's use of 
its lines. The Shpigler Group will actively operate the system, to be 
branded as Lighthouse Broadband. The first community where commercial 
service will be offered is Grand Ledge, which is located a few miles 
west of Michigan's capital city, Lansing.
"Partnering with someone with the knowledge and experience of The 
Shpigler Group makes this an attractive project", said Gerald Wyse, BPL 
Project Manager of Consumers Energy based in Jackson, Michigan.
"We are very pleased to be working with Consumers Energy on one of the 
first commercial deployments of BPL in the country", stated David 
Shpigler, President of The Shpigler Group. "The deployment in Grand 
Ledge represents a key first step in what we look forward to as a long 
term relationship between The Shpigler Group and Consumers Energy."
"We want to evaluate expanding the use of our distribution system to 
enable BPL as an economic development tool to provide competitive 
broadband options to Michigan communities", said Wyse. "We also want to 
determine the potential for utility applications to help us in terms of 
electric outage management or critical equipment monitoring," he added.
The initial deployment in Grand Ledge will one of the first commercial 
deployments in the nation and the first in Michigan. A report by 
TechNet, a technology lobbying group based in Silicon Valley, identified 
Michigan as having developed the best strategy among all 50 states to 
reduce roadblocks and to spur customers to adopt broadband.
The first phase of the deployment is planned for spring 2005. The 
initial focus of the build will involve serving 10,000 homes and 
business and will be evaluated prior to a wider scale deployment in 
other areas of Consumers Energy's service territory.
About The Shpigler Group, Inc.
The Shpigler Group is a broadband services firm focused on the 
telecommunications and technology sector. The Shpigler Group works with 
utilities, municipalities, telecom service providers, and infrastructure 
and technology developers. For these firms, The Shpigler Group works to 
solve complex issues involving strategic assessment, market analysis, 
business case development, economic evaluation of network design, and 
competitive and partnership assessment. For more information about the 
firm, visit the company website at www.shpigler.com.

About Consumers Energy
Consumers Energy, the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy, provides 
natural gas and electricity to more than six million of the state's 
nearly 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.





-- 


'Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their 
 level then beat you  with experience.'           -anon