IBM to help build broadband network in power lines

[DogPoundPup]

Source: Seattlepi.com

NEW YORK -- IBM Corp. is throwing its considerable weight behind an idea that seemed to have faded: broadband Internet access delivered over ordinary power lines.

The technology has been around for decades, but most efforts to implement the idea on a broad scale have failed to live up to expectations.

Now, with somewhat scaled-back goals, improved technology, and a dose of low-interest federal loans, IBM is partnering with a small newcomer called International Broadband Electric Communications Inc. to try to make the idea work in rural communities that don't have other broadband options.

Their strategy is to sign up electric cooperatives that provide power to sparsely populated areas across the eastern United States. Rather than compete toe-to-toe with large, entrenched cable or DSL providers, International Broadband is looking for customers that have been largely left out of the shift to high-speed Internet.

Read more: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1700ap_tec_broadband_over_power_lines.html

[Kali]

1. WTF!? EASTERN US???

What about MEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeee?????

(currently on dial up running at 24Kbps!!!woo hoo)

[WriteDown]

2. I actually had this in DFW

via DirecTV. It was called PowerLine and had to stop due to the electric company, TXU refusing to carry the signal.

[Kali]

3. I'm so close to getting satellite

but I still have to keep my land line for uploading (grrrrr) and it was $70/month last time I checked, If it gets below $50 I may do it. Just to be able to watch Colbert and Stewart!

[wartrace]

9. Ever thought about satellite internet?

My dial-up was about as fast as yours (sometimes). I signed up with wildblue & I get 1.5mbps down & 256k upload.

[customerserviceguy]

13. It makes sense to perfect technologies

in areas where there are a greater number of potential customers. When the bugs are worked out back East, the system can be duplicated in markets where there are fewer customers. Also, the buzz from the success of an area where it has worked can create a greater potential acceptance in your area.

Look at it this way, if it works, it will be out your way soon, if it doesn't, then you won't have the frustration of dealing with the hassles. I lived in a city of about 8,000 people on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state, and we didn't have broadband, but eventually, even the town of 3,500 that I moved to in 2002 had DSL.

[CRF450]

4. I live way off the road, and it would cost 8 grand to get high speed cable.

This would be an awsome idea as I'm stuck with satellite internet, which does pretty decent 700kb/s but its horrible for my gaming needs because of the signal lag. No DSL as I'm not paying for a land line.

[wartrace]

10. Horrible for gaming? Impossible for gaming.

I have wildblue, it just doesn't work at all for gaming due to the latency of the satellite.

[merwin]

5. This is awesome technology, but unfortunately it interferes significantly with AM radio.

Which seriously pisses some people off. Not me, but the argument always comes up :)

[Javaman]

6. also with shortwave radio signals. nt

[CRF450]

7. Who the heck listens to AM radio these days???

[burrowowl]

8. 1350 AM Albuquerque

Air America!

[customerserviceguy]

11. A lot of sports programming is on AM

I like to catch a game when on a trip sometimes. Often when a game is blacked out on local TV, the radio is the only way to be able to follow it.

[Xithras]

15. Not often mentioned is the fact that the interference goes two ways.

A ham operator firing up his 1500 watt rig will shut down the BPL internet connections for every household within a quarter mile or so, and will cause data loss and retransmission (slowing the connections down) for everyone within several miles. Two hammers having a conversation across town could wreak havoc on thousands of connections.

Here's the problem for the BPL subscribers. The FCC rulings basically say that it will be the power companies job to "notch out" conflicting frequencies, and that hammers have first rights to the spectrum. You can have functional BPL internet for years, and if your neighbor buys a CB or ham radio and shuts down your internet, you're SOL. Your neighbor will have the law on his side.

Good luck convincing your power company to switch their transmission frequency in a situation like that.

[high density]

12. I thought BPL was dead?

The RF pollution just doesn't make it feasible.

[NickB79]

14. Just do WiMax instead

A single WiMax transmitter can have a range of 20+ miles with DSL speeds.