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Gold/Mining/Energy : Mongolia Gold Resources -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: d:oug who wrote (3789)	8/25/1999 11:46:00 PM
From: d:oug	Respond to of 4066

You Have Fast Access in Your Home Right Now (superfast Internet access) zdnet.com If certain technology companies are telling the truth, it won't be long before we have fast access in any building. In fact, in every room. Companies working on power line technology claim the existing electrical grid can be used to send data, voice or video signals at speeds that leave cable modem or telephone systems in the dust. If their vision plays out, you'll have virtually unlimited bandwidth anywhere you can plug it in. Carrying data over power lines is not a new idea. Tech Director Jon DeKeles reminds me that 15 or 20 years ago, we used modem eliminators to transmit data across electrical lines in the office. Click for more. In more recent years, we've seen power line experiments in Europe, but with less-than-spectacular results. And success in Europe doesn't translate into functionality in the U.S. where the density of signal-scrambling transformers is much greater. Still, new developments have people hoping the promise is for real this time: Nortel Networks says it's found a way to bypass transformers and is testing its Digital PowerLine technology in the U.S. If all goes well, it expects to provide utilities with the ability to carry high-speed data. Click for more. Media Fusion says it has a breakthrough technology that speeds huge amounts of data over power lines by riding along the magnetic field that surrounds the wires. The Dallas startup planned trials this fall, but needed money and is now saying "by year's end." Click for more. Of course, the benefits of data transmission over power lines are obvious: Unlimited bandwidth High-speed data transfers The electrical grid is the most extensive wire network in the world Homes and offices typically have numerous electrical outlets Sounds great. But I'm a professional skeptic. I've seen power line promises before. We've been three months away -- for four years now. So I'll believe it when I see it. Even as I hang onto a glimmer of hope that a breakthrough in power line technology will stop the broadband logjam. And force cable and phone companies to stop dragging their feet...