FCC's Powell lauds power-line Internet service-Reuters
Wednesday April 9, 5:33 PM EDT
By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON, April 9 (Reuters) - The head of the Federal Communications Commission gave his blessing on Wednesday to an emerging technology that would provide high-speed Internet service through power lines.
FCC Chairman Michael Powell toured a house in suburban Maryland that had been set up to showcase the new service, which transmits e-mail, Web pages, telephone service and other data over the existing power grid and through standard electrical outlets.
In the living room, Powell listened to an Internet radio broadcast and watched the movie "Ice Age" on a flat-screen 42-inch television streaming from another computer miles away.
In the home office, Powell checked his voice mail over an Internet telephone and watched as a printer spat out a picture taken by a surveillance camera at the front door. He nodded approvingly at other computers scattered throughout the house that stayed online by plugging into nearby electrical outlets.
"This is within striking distance of being the third major broadband pipe into the home," Powell said. "I'm a little bummed it's not (available) in my area."
Powell's visit provided a boost for a technology that after several years of false starts could soon provide consumers with another option for high-speed Internet service.
Roughly 14 percent of U.S. households subscribe to broadband service, which offers Internet speeds roughly 30 times as fast as conventional dial-up service.
But existing cable-TV and telephone-based networks do not serve all neighborhoods, and analysts say high prices remain a barrier to adoption. Broadband providers like Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) and Verizon Communications (VZ) usually charge between $40 and $60 per month for access.
BROADBAND FOR UNDER $30 A MONTH
Current Technologies, the equipment maker which set up the demonstration, hopes to offer service for under $30 by the end of the year, company officials said.
Consumers who sign up for the service could plug into the Internet through any outlet in the house with a $70 modem the size of a deck of cards.
Current has wired about 70 households in Potomac, Maryland, in a test with power provider Pepco Holdings Inc. (POM), and is also testing the service in suburban Cincinnati.
Developers have had to overcome several technical and regulatory hurdles.
While the power lines that blanket the country can handle both electricity and Internet traffic, transformer boxes that "step down" power levels for household use tend to garble data and make it unreadable. The problem has vexed utilities and equipment makers like Nortel Networks (NT) for years.
Developers have recently found ways to overcome the issue. Current Technologies, based in Germantown, Maryland, uses a physical link to bypass neighborhood transformers, while other equipment makers rely on wireless links or cell phone-style technology to scramble the data and push it through the transformers.
Power companies need permission from state regulators before offering the service, but Pepco Vice President Michael Sullivan said he didn't think that would be a problem because regulators are eager to see more competition.
"The roll-out could be very expeditious," he said.
Powell said the FCC would try to encourage, rather than discourage, the new technology. The agency is currently determining whether it needs to change the way it inspects power-line equipment to ensure it works properly.
"What we're trying to do is shine some bright headlights to see where there will be regulatory and legal problems and try to get ahead of them and get them removed," he said.
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