Article about ABTG in Habitat Magazine:
Habitat Magazine
October 2005 Issue
Robin L. Barton
The Next Big Thing
Broadband over power lines (BPL) – the latest in technology for your building
Imagine this: a system that allows you to (1) plug your modem into any electrical outlet in
your apartment and surf the web instantly; (2) control and monitor security cameras; (3)
control energy consumption by turning your air conditioner/heating system on and off
remotely; and (4) connect your computer to your television, which can then be used to
present photos as a slide show over your TV set.
Well, you don’t have to imagine anymore – it’s happening now. Princeton House, a
condominium on the Upper West Side with over 210 units, has been participating in a
pilot project that’s using cutting-edge technology to bring high-speed internet service to
the building and its unit-owners. The pilot project is designed to explore the possible
uses of “broadband over power lines” – or BPL – in a multi-dwelling building. There are
three companies involved in the test: Con Ed; EarthLink, an internet service provider;
and Ambient Corp., a publicly traded technology company whose largest shareholder is
Con Ed. EarthLink got involved as part of its commitment to develop “alternate access
technologies” to provide consumers with options besides DSL and cable, explains Kevin
Brand, vice president for product management for EarthLink.
BPL technology uses a building’s existing electrical wiring and infrastructure to provide
internet service, explains John Joyce, president and CEO of Ambient. Here’s how BPL
works. The “backhaul”– in this case, a T1 line provided by EarthLink – brings the internet
signal to the building. The T1 line is connected to a standard router, which is located in a
small cabinet in the building’s basement. The router is then connected to the building’s
electrical wiring through couplers developed by Ambient that encircle – but don’t cut into
or damage – the wires. The couplers connect the router to the wiring both in the
basement and on every third floor of the building using the building’s existing risers. To
connect to the internet, unit-owners simply have to plug their modems into any electrical
outlet in their apartments and voila! They’re surfing the web. Unit-owners can also
connect to the BPL network wirelessly. And, if the power goes out, the BPL network has
a battery back-up to keep the network running for a period of time.
“BPL is an attractive alternative to other options,” such as DSL or cable, says Joyce.
Because BPL uses a building’s existing wiring and infrastructure, including its risers and
conduit, setting up a BPL network is cheaper and less invasive than the alternatives, he
explains. For example, when RCN wired Princeton House for cable service, it had to drill
through the street to the building’s basement and then drill holes through each of the
building’s 17 floors to run the cable to each unit, notes Tim Frost, the condo board’s
president. None of that was necessary when the BPL network was set up.
Anything that can be done over the internet can be done over BPL, claims Joyce. So, in
addition to providing high-speed internet service, BPL can be used to provide voiceover internet protocol (VoIP) phone service. It can also be used to control and monitor
security cameras over the internet.
Jay Cohen, account executive for Argo and managing agent for Princeton House, says
BPL’s security camera capabilities could greatly benefit condos and co-ops. For
instance, you could connect your security cameras to the BPL network, monitor their
footage remotely on a computer, and then burn any significant footage on a DVD for use
by law enforcement, your insurance company, or your building’s attorney in a lawsuit.
Being able to easily preserve and access such footage could reduce crime and fraud,
such as phony slip-and-fall accidents, he notes.
A wider range of applications can be run over BPL than can be run over DSL or cable,
including a number of building and energy management applications, observes Joyce.
BPL can be used to set up an intercom system. It can also be used to set up residential
building controls much like what commercial buildings typically have, so that the building
and its unit-owners can control their energy consumption, says Frost. For example, the
through-the-wall air conditioners in the units can be connected to the BPL network,
allowing unit-owners to turn their A/C on and off remotely via the internet. The pilot
project is currently working on similar technology that would allow for remote control of
the building’s heating system. And the BPL network could be used to read the building’s
meters and verify energy usage.
In fact, it is BPL’s building and energy management capabilities that initially attracted
Frost to the pilot project. He believed that participating would “bring [us] benefits and
opportunities.” Frost learned about the pilot project through his job as director of
corporate planning for Con Ed. They were already testing BPL in other types of
properties, but he urged them to try it in a high-rise building, such as Princeton House.
Once the group behind the pilot project agreed, it was relatively easy to get the condo
board’s approval. After all, it wasn’t going to cost the unit-owners a dime.
But negotiating an agreement took a while. That’s because the board doesn’t meet
often, and the BPL group needed to set up its team for the project – this was the first
time BPL was being used in this type of building, explains Joyce. (For similar buildings
interested in BPL now, it would probably take only weeks to sign the agreement and get
the network installed and working, he notes.) Also, the board members had a lot of
questions and wanted assurances that BPL was safe, adds Frost.
(Because of his ties to Con Ed, Frost had another board member work with the condo’s
attorney on drafting the agreement and recused himself from the vote on it.) Joyce says
the board’s main concerns seemed to be eliminating any liability and ensuring that
installing and running the BPL network wouldn’t be invasive, disrupt the unit-owners,
affect the building’s electric service, or create any other problems.
Once the board approved the agreement, it only took a matter of days to set up the BPL
network, says Joyce. The primary use of the network so far has been for internet access,
with about 30 units currently participating. But demos of the BPL network’s other
possible uses have been set up, many in Frost’s apartment. From a computer connected
to the BPL network, Frost can access the internet; turn his lights and A/C on and off, and
monitor footage from a video camera filming the street below. He has a VoIP phone as
well as a phone that can be used as an intercom. Also, using Microsoft’s new Media Center software, his television is connected to his
computer, which can be used as a digital recording device. And photos stored on his
computer can be viewed as a slide show over his television.
The BPL network has been up and running since February 2005 and, so far, feedback
from the participating unit-owners has been good. “Everyone’s excited we’re doing
something interesting,” Frost says. And the speed of the internet connection is
comparable to that of DSL or cable, notes Cohen. There were a few problems at first
with EarthLink, which is handling customer service for participating unit-owners, but
those were worked out, points out Frost. The project has “proven the technology will
work,” adds Brand. The next phase in the building is control of the A/C units over the
internet, he notes. And the board has been exploring the possibility of replacing its
antiquated intercom system with a BPL-enabled one. Frost expects that it would be
better and cheaper then a traditional intercom system, which requires its own wiring.
Frost looks forward to implementing the building and energy management applications
over the BPL network in the near future. The unit-owners can save on utilities if they
could control their heating and air conditioning over the internet. And the building can
save money on certain systems that are better and cheaper to set up and run over a
BPL network, such as the intercom system. Cohen also believes that having a BPL
network is a “great plus” for the building and “boosts the value of the units.”
Brand reports that they still need to figure out the overall pricing for setting up a BPL
network, but he expects the cost to be competitive. While it’s unclear when BPL will be
commercially available, Joyce says that any interested boards should contact Matt Hicks
of Ambient at (617) 332-0004.
WHO WE ARE
HABITAT magazine is an independent publication, with paid circulation, which champions awareness, education
and empowerment for board directors of residential co-ops, condos, and home owner associations in the New York
City greater metropolitan area. Highly influential and widely–known to our audience of co-op / condo decisionmakers
as “the reader recognized authority in the co-op/condo community,” HABITAT tells it like it is, fostering
reader loyalty, trust, involvement and commitment, creating a valuable editorial environment for readers and
advertisers.
Founded May 1982 by Carol Ott who continues as Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, HABITAT is a SPECIAL
INTEREST CONSUMER and BUSINESS TO BUSINESS publication, that covers the concerns of co-op, condo
and HOA living and management from the board directors’ and property managers’ points of view.
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