[Premium-Rx] Broadband over power line vendor rolls out service

[Martin Colby]

Hello All:

Included below is an article from one of my computer trade publications 
about the imminent rollout of a broadband over power line service in U.S. 
states of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. (I thought it might be of interest 
to list members.)

Would be interested in hearing if anyone in affected areas suffer any 
reception interference.

Martin Colby
San Diego, California

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Broadband over power line vendor rolls out service
Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana will have BPL service this month



By Grant Gross, IDG News Service March 02, 2004

WASHINGTON - More than a million residents of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana 
will have a new broadband option this month in the first large-scale 
rollout of broadband over power line (BPL) service, despite concerns that 
the new BPL technology interferes with other radio frequency devices, 
including ham radios.

Current Communications Group, a BPL vendor, announced Tuesday it is teaming 
with Cinergy Broadband LLC, a subsidiary of Cinergy Corp., to roll out BPL 
service in Cinergy's coverage area by March 15, said Brian Lustig, a 
Current Communications spokesman. Current Communications has been 
conducting small-scale trials of BPL in the Cincinnati, Ohio, and Potomac, 
Maryland, areas for more than a year.

The large-scale rollout will be available to Cinergy's 1.5 million 
customers in southwestern Ohio, parts of central and southern Indiana and 
the Cincinnati suburbs in Kentucky. The rollout follows action by the U.S. 
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in mid-February in which 
commissioners voted to move forward with a process to measure interference 
caused by BPL service. The FCC's move drew criticism from groups such as 
the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), which contends that BPL interferes 
with ham radio signals.

An ARRL official wasn't immediately available to comment on Current 
Communications' announcement.

BPL vendors pitch the service as a third broadband choice, in addition to 
cable modem and DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) service. FCC commissioners 
have trumpeted BPL as a broadband option for customers in rural areas where 
cable or DSL service aren't available.

Current Communications' service will allow consumers to receive broadband 
through their electrical outlets. Users can plug in a HomePlug power line 
modem into an electric socket anywhere in a house or office without 
professional installation or additional wiring, according to the company.

Current Communications is also planning to offer a voice over Internet 
Protocol service, possibly through a partnership with another company, 
Lustig said.

Customers in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky will be able to buy BPL service for 
$29.95 to $39.95 a month, depending on the connection speed. A second 
Current Communications joint venture with Cinergy will deploy BPL to 
smaller municipal and cooperatively owned power companies covering 24 
million customers across the U.S. The companies have not announced a date 
for that second rollout.