Waiting for Electrifying Internet Access
Jack M. Germain, newsfactor.com
Fri Jul 29, 7:17 PM ET
Hanging from utility poles or buried in underground conduits in communities across America are power lines that feed electricity to homes and businesses. This same electrical grid might soon be providing subscribers the ability to surf the Internet with greater speed and efficiency than is now available from cable and DSL service, according to industry watchers.
This promise of accessing the Internet via existing electrical wiring, known as Broadband over Power Lines, or BPL, initially encountered technical problems, lack of funding and regulatory issues. Those problems largely have been overcome, according to experts. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) now supports BPL service.
Earlier this month Google (Nasdaq: GOOG - news), Goldman Sachs and Hearst invested in Broadband over Power Line (BPL) provider Current Communications. IBM (NYSE: IBM - news) and CenterPoint announced a big partnership to promote the technology.
The lure of revenue generation for the thousands of regional utility companies that would have to buy into BPL now is a driving force for adoption. A recent report for Telecom Trends International forecasts that worldwide Broadband over Power Lines revenue will grow from US$57.1 million in 2004 to $4.4 billion in 2011.
As a result of these developments, several utility companies now are gearing up to offer Broadband over Power Line in numerous regions around the country. Industry experts developing BPL technology predict a viable service will be ready within the next 18 months to three years.
Playing Catch-Up
Broadband over Power Line already exists in several European countries. While not yet universally available there, the power industries in Europe are several years ahead of their U.S. counterparts in developing BPL technology.
"The U.S. has been slowed by constraints of existing electrical networks," said Michael Valocchi, an analyst with IBM's Utility Strategy Practice.
The European electrical grid is designed much differently, which made the job of developing BPL much easier, he said. Part of the design difference is in the number of houses on network links.
Another design hurdle for U.S. power companies is the use of transformers at so many points along the wire network. According to Valocchi, engineers solved that problem by figuring out how to jump the Internet signals over the transfers so they do not get in the way.
Developing BPL technology in the U.S. makes sense, according to an Intellon official. Intellon develops home powerline communications technology and is the enabling technology for Current Communications' BPL services.
"Growth in the U.S. has been stagnated," said Andy Melder, senior vice president of sales market and business development for Intellon. "Power Line communication is taking on new meaning. The equipment is there now to make it work."
Advances in DSL and cable networks first led people to question the need for developing BPL, Melder said. But cable and DSL service is not available in many parts of the country while electrical lines are already in place.
Fast-paced Developments
Technology providers are designing BPL services to be plug-and-play so consumers can install equipment themselves and begin to receive service within a few hours of subscribing. For electric utility companies, BPL offers a high-value communications network that can enhance power delivery, help with automated outage detection and restoration confirmation, and enable an intelligent grid, according to utility experts.
As evidence that the industry is moving forward with getting BPL ready for distribution, analysts point to recent news announcements of partnerships and field-test operations.
For example, IBM and CenterPoint Energy announced on July 11 two joint projects in their effort to deliver broadband services over power lines. Both projects are among the first in the U.S. to use the latest generation BPL technology released this year, said company officials. This technology makes BPL three times faster than what had been previously available.
The first joint project is the opening of a BPL technology center in Houston that will allow IBM and CenterPoint to examine and test BPL technology in real time for consumers and utility companies. The second project is a test of BPL service by CenterPoint Energy to about 220 homes in southwest Houston. This pilot program will run through August 2005.
Hurdles Ahead
Michael Britt, vice president of channel development for Fonix Telecom, agrees with other experts that BPL in the U.S. is ready for full deployment from a technological standpoint. But he sees a few nontechnical issues that continue to slow down the deployment of BPL technology. Fonix Telecom is a subsidiary of Fonix Corp., which provides integrated telecommunications services.
One of those issues is the lack of facilities. The U.S. lacks large plants to build new equipment at a scale that will allow for an acceptable price point. This will start to change, he said, as funding becomes available for second- and third-generation equipment.
Another major issue lies within the culture of the power industry itself. Power companies will be adding what will essentially be an unregulated Internet service to an existing regulated utility structure.
"Utility companies are not willing to take a lot of risk now. That will not change until they can see money growing to their core businesses. So they are waiting to watch what the industry leaders are doing," said Britt. "The tipping point will occur when Wall Street invests more readily in the development."
Regulations Unleashed
Many industry experts are confident that federal regulatory issues will not inhibit BPL deployment. Generally, the only bumps in the road will be found within state regulatory agencies. "A number of key state regulators are very keen on this (BPL), and the FCC is already pushing this," said IBM's Valocchi.
Fonix's Britt said that the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in what is known as the Brand X case cleared the way for cable companies to build Internet networks without having to share access to them with other competitors. This ruling will apply to power utilities using power lines to carry voice and data.
"But the utility poles and electricity delivery remain regulated entities on state levels. Utilities will have to show that the added broadband delivery will not be subsidized by the electric rate payers," Britt said.
The FCC has generally given its support for BPL development. But FCC commissioners are considering concerns voiced by amateur radio enthusiasts about possible electrical interference BPL service may create, according to Philip Poulidis, senior director of BPL for Intellon in Canada.
Poulidis said that potential interference from unshielded power lines over great distances could be a problem. To mitigate that issue, he said, the FCC last October mandated that BPL operators notch out frequencies that would interfere with the operating range of ham radio.
"We went further to embed chips at the hardware level to filter out interference," Poulidis said.
Speed a Factor
One issue with the development of Broadband over Power Lines might be the speed available for Web surfing. When it comes to speed, opinions differ.
For regions that do not have broadband service available from local telephone or cable TV companies, BPL service over the existing electrical grid clearly will be a benefit, making uploading and downloading speeds a moot point. But in regions where BPL will compete with existing broadband coverage, speed could well become a marketing toe-stubber.
Not necessarily so, according to Fonix's Britt. He said marketing studies have shown that consumers tend to trust their power companies more than their cable companies. "BPL is a superior technology to what is out there now. Speed in the next generation of everything will get faster, except for upload speeds," said Britt.
That is not necessarily true, according to other experts. Valocchi, IBM's analyst, said different BPL equipment will have different speed capabilities. Thus, the answer to questions about how fast BPL will be depends on the company providing the service.
"BPL has a pretty good potential for speed, and the upload speed will be equal to download speed. So BPL will be just as fast or faster than cable and DSL," he said.
Cost Competitive
In the final analysis, it might well be the cost consumers are willing to pay for BPL that will determine how this new technology compares to the competition. Most experts agree that subscription fees for BPL service will be attractive.
"The cost will be comparable for consumers. Price will always be an issue," said Fonix's Britt.
Intellon's Poulidis does not see consumer cost as an issue with BPL. In his view, the service will run around $19.99 per month. His company's product, HomePlug, lets consumers share Internet connections, stream digital audio and video, and network PC and consumer-entertainment devices simply by plugging the hardware into existing power outlets.
"That device costs $40 or $50 per wall plug, and only one is needed if the consumer uses a router to share Internet connections with other computers," he said.
Delivery Timeline
Perhaps the biggest disagreement among experts is how soon a "ready for prime time" deployment of Broadband over Power Line service will be available. They estimate one to three years. Intellon's Melder estimates that field testing over the next 12 months will lead to national deployment within 18 months, at least in regions not currently served with cable.
Fonix's Britt disagrees. "From 12 to 18 months is far too optimistic," he said. "But in that time frame the technology will be proven to consumers."
IBM's Valocchi said a more realistic timeline is two to three years, noting that it will not be because of equipment delays but because of the regulatory issues to be solved.
Promising Future
Britt is sure that BPL development will be a substantial benefit to the electrical industry. But he expects to see gradual introduction of BPL in smaller test regions before that industry accepts full-scale deployment.
"If the utility operators can induce savings, then they can fund these networks. They have access to funding that the Telecom industry does not have," he said.
Valocchi agrees that BPL technology will revitalize the industry. "What's key for me is how this will transform utility operations. These are exciting developments that are a lot closer to fruition than most people realize," he said.
Melder concluded that BPL is well on its way. "There are over 70 trials already taking place in the U.S. with a few commercial deployments already," he said.
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