[QCWA] IBM and Government $$$ Revives BPL

[Curt Phillips W4CP]

Looks like we've got to shoot it with a silver bullet and drive a wooden stake through its heart.
 
FYI.
 
73,
Curt Phillips W4CP
Raleigh, NC USA
 
 
from URGENT COMMUNICATIONS magazine (formerly Mobile Radio Technology)
 
 
UTILITIES TURN TO IBM FOR BPL SOLUTION
By Lynnette Luna 
 
 
Just when it appeared broadband-over-powerline (BPL) technology was going to die off, IBM and rural Internet service provider (ISP) International Broadband Electric Communications—with help from a $9.6-million cash infusion from IBM and $70 million in government loans—are deploying BPL networks for almost 200,000 rural customers served by seven electrical cooperatives in Alabama, Indiana, Michigan and Virginia. 
 
The move comes months after two of BPL’s highest profile deployments died out and as many BPL vendors have begun focusing on smart electrical networks rather than consumer broadband delivery. The technology, which modifies radio signals to transmit voice and Internet data over electric utility power lines, was extremely hyped early this decade, when it was billed as a way for power companies to become the third alternative in the broadband market, competing against cable and DSL operators in urban areas. 
 
But the technology has been slow to take off, as technical limitations and interference problems with ham radios and local emergency radios kept it from being adopted widespread. Moreover, power companies realized they just couldn’t compete with cable and high-speed telco offerings in urban areas. 
[snip]

I, for one, will be waiting to see how IBEC and IBM can make BPL a profitable technology. Last May, DirecTV and Current Communications sold a flagship BPL deployment in Dallas to the local utility after they couldn’t make a go of it. The utility is using the network for smart-grid monitoring only. In this case, the combination of using the technology as a broadband offering and for the electric cooperatives’ smart grids increases the chances of success. 
 
Still, Blair concedes that the cost of such networks vary from situation to situation. BPL deployments typically cost half of wireless network deployments, but the ongoing costs might not be advantageous. “It’s more than just the cost of the network. Operational expenditure is the key piece to understand. In some cases, BPL looks good paper, but on the opex side, it might not be so good, and wireless might look better.” 
 
 
 
FULL STORY:
 
http://urgentcomm.com/networks_and_systems/commentary/ibm-bpl-solution-0225/