John, I wish you'd warned me of the two-pun hazard back when I could have edited my post. Too late now, so if you never hear from me again, you'll know why.
Well, the comparison of power line difficulties with phone lines really isn't as simple as it sounds. First, most phone lines are underground, and wrapped with a grounded copper sheath in a cable impregnated with a silicon gel, so the only atmospheric problems are at the connection points. And, the type cable is important; a thick multi strand steel or aluminum cable, with no sheathing (or a nonconductive exterior insulation), is a whole different animal to an HF signal than a copper twisted pair or even an HF-friendly piece of coax.
So, the point is, it may be very difficult for the power companies to effectively compete in the consumer broadband arena. Not impossible, but probably unlikely. To further complicate things, the deregulation push for power companies may change the power grid to the point that it will be impossible for any one company to differentiate whose electrons are flowing through whose wire.
Please note the lack of stupid puns. I am trying to repent.
jim |
