[R-390] BPL in the countryside

[Terry O'Laughlin]

At 11:30 AM 7/11/2004, you wrote:
>None of the Tennessee power companies that are offering are
>going to offer it in sparsely populated area, like, erm the
>country. Same reasons cable and DSL don't go out that far -

I'm not saying the service is going rural now.  The political effort has 
two goals, short term, which is approval of BPL so it can be used, and long 
term, where government financing makes the national system feasible.  The 
political stage is being set for another round of government largesse.  REA 
was the example I was told by an attorney who works with the regulatory 
agencies here.  Any student of history can cite railroads, nuclear power, 
the DARPAnet, the TVA, the space program and a myriad other examples where 
our tax dollars (or land for the railroads) went to create national systems 
that were economically infeasible for private industry.  BPL may be popping 
up in cities now but there are no fiber optic or coax lines in the rural 
areas, just quietly humming powerlines ready to scream.

Terry O'
WB9GVB