BC: LAST MILE BROADBAND SOLUTION
ABTG = Ambient Corporation
Generally I avoid BB stocks
but this one may have the right
stuff .. It's a long way from
a commercial product .. but does
have backing from Con-Ed and
earthlink .. Do your own DD ..
From ABTG Ragingbull message board ..
UPDATED ABTG DD INFO:
Added several new items to this page. (a) Added how BPL installation looks like with pictures. (b) Industry news are added to "Other News and Possible Trials", thanks GP and others for the postings.
Profile:
Ambient Corporation (OTCBB: ABTG) is a publicly traded PLC infrastructure equipment company. The company is pioneering and innovating Power Line Communications (PLC) solutions for the deployment and commercialization of PLC technology on both Medium and Low Voltage distribution power grids.
PLC will enable a variety of exciting new Consumer and Utility applications that utilize the existing power lines and distribution grids of Electrical Utilities and Power Companies. This is achieved through Ambient’s proprietary and patented PLC coupler and telecommunications technology, which establishes a “last mile” solution to every premise and building.
The Technology
Ambient’s Technology utilizes the Primary Distribution (“Medium”) Voltage, between 2.4kV and 35kV, and Secondary (“Low”) Voltage, up to 600V distribution lines, to facilitate high-speed data communications PLC integration involves the development of technology within two main architectural layers: the physical layer and the network layer. The physical layer deals with the electrical system and interfaces while the network layer deals with the communications system. The integration of the network and physical layer technology allows high-speed data to be transmitted over the existing utility power lines directly to the customer’s premise – uninterrupted, uncorrupted, intact and secure (encrypted).
The main products within the physical layer are the couplers. Ambient’s proprietary coupling technology is used to couple PLC signals between the low and medium voltage lines as well as bypass devices (typically a distribution transformer) that would normally prevent the transmission of PLC signals on the power lines.
The passive bypass couplers are designed to clamp around the primary and secondary lines, in overhead, underground and in-building environments. The standout benefits of Ambient’s couplers are low cost, easy installation, safety and capacity for very high data rates – exceeding 10 megabits per second.
How the BPL looks like on Poles:
agnew.us
A more detailed look of BPL install: (large image - 1 MB in size)
w4ovh.net
This one shows the coupler on the wire (large image - 1 MB in size)
w4ovh.net
AGREEMENTS WITH TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES AND UTILITY COMPANIES:
In 2004, EarthLink Joins Ambient Advisory Board and invested $500,000 in Ambient. EarthLink is exploring communications technologies like PLC (also known as broadband over power line (BPL) communications technology) as part of its efforts to extend the reach of its high-speed services. For approximately two years, EarthLink has worked with Ambient on its BPL pilot with Con Edison. EarthLink's participation on Ambient's Advisory Board strengthens this on-going relationship as well as increases the resources Ambient's management has available for direct counsel.
In 2003, Ambient announced a partnership with IDACOMM, Inc., a subsidiary of IDACORP, Inc. (IDA), to initiate pilot tests of Broadband over Power Line (BPL) technology in Idaho. Ambient is currently conducting field trials with Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., (Con Edison) a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE: ED), and Southern Telecom Inc. (STI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE:SO). CAM, a subsidiary of Enersis S.A., is also testing Ambient’s technology in their trial underway in Santiago, Chile.
In December 2001, the Company entered into a testing and development agreement with Southern Telecom, Inc ("STI"). Under that agreement, the Company established a demonstration of the PLC Technologies at a site in Alabama. While the agreement calls for a small and large field trial similar to the CECONY arrangement,
In 2001, the Company entered into an agreement with Design of Systems on Silicon ("DS-2"), a leading Spanish silicon design company, pursuant to which DS-2 is to provide modem/communication chipsets that convert digital bit streams into high frequency data signals. The DS-2 technology has been integrated into the PLC Technologies for field trial testing.
In 2001, the Company entered into an agreement with Aquila Technologies Group, Inc.("Aquila") a subsidiary of Canberra Industries (parent company, Cogema Instruments, Inc.), a leading provider of research and development and equipment fabrication, pursuant to which Aquila is assisting Ambient in the design and development equipment for the node technology. Initial prototypes of the equipment have been installed and monitored in a field trial since May 2002.
On January 25, 2001, Ambient Corp. announced it had conducted in Hong Kong the first ever successful testing of its Powerline Telecommunications (PLT) technology in an actual residential building. These tests established successful connectivity from the electric distribution closet, to the furthest apartments on all 8 floors. In addition connectivity between each floor was successfully proven. Throughput data rates of up to 8 Mbps were recorded, with raw speed exceeding 25 Mbps.
On January 31, 2001, Ambient announced a development and licensing agreement with Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO).
On March 21, and May 22, 2001, Ambient Corporation and Bechtel Telecommunications, announced ne w technical services agreements that initiated development of a strategic alliance. Bechtel will support Ambient in the market delivery of Ambient's PLT technology by providing general contracting related to system mapping surveys, demonstrations, lab testing, project management, crew support, and commercial implementation support. Bechtel will also assist Ambient with compliance with utility commission or utility board regulations and guidelines, and applicable state and federal laws, both in the United States and abroad.
On June 13, 2001, Bechtel announced an agreement with Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) to collaborate on testing advanced technology. As part of the agreement Bechtel and INEEL will also conduct specialized independent research for new products and technologies, such as powerline technology. Bechtel is currently negotiating to be the first company to conduct large-scale testing and analysis of Ambient Corporation’s propriety technology at the (INEEL) facilities. Bechtel plans to use the INEEL power distribution grid, which encompasses 54 laboratories, to test the functionality, modem connectivity, and other aspects of Ambient’s proposed communication infra structure. Bechtel and INEEL also would work with Ambient to conduct radio frequency emissions tests required by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) guidelines.
It is also rumored the company is testing with Progressive Energy and Duke Energy, Ambient's partners are involved in both testings.
FCC and BPL
On February 12, 2004, FCC has voted to go ahead and layout new rules of Broadband Powerline Communications.
The FCC agreed unanimously--with one partial dissent--to go forward with a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) on the subject of Broadband over
Power Line (BPL). Anh Wride of the OET staff outlined the scope of the NPRM, which only addresses so-called "ACCESS BPL" -- the type that would apply radio frequency energy to exterior overhead and underground low and medium-voltage power lines to distribute broadband and Internet service.
ABTG is the only publicly traded company in the "access BPL " with the inductive couplers. Please see details below about Access BPL.
According to NY Times, "new rules that could revolutionize the architecture of the Internet and the service it provides are being prepared by U.S. regulators. Proposed changes by the Federal Communications Commission could allow homes to connect to the Internet through electrical outlets and possibly give businesses the ability to make cheaper telephone calls online, the New York Times reported Friday. The new rules are expected to be completed in a few months."
"Once the rules allowing delivery of the Internet through power lines are completed, companies could provide consumers with the ability to plug their modems directly into wall sockets just as they do with a toaster, desk lamp or refrigerator."
"Under the new rules, expected to be completed in coming months, electric utilities could offer an alternative to the cable and phone companies and provide an enormous possible benefit to rural communities which are served by the power grid but not by broadband providers. A number of utility companies have been running trials offering high-speed Internet service through their transmission lines."
For details about the new FCC rules, please read:
ragingbull.lycos.com
Key Company Facts:
• U.S. Operating Headquarters: Newton, Massachusetts
• Stock Symbol: OTCBB: ABTG
• Shares Outstanding: Apx. 93 million shares (includes the newly issued 17 million stock options for employees). Authorized Shares: 200 million
• Industry Segment: Powerline Communications (PLC) Technology
• Major shareholder: shareholder: Consolidated Edison, Inc: 35 million
• Price range for 52 weeks: $0.06 – 0.40. Current price: $0.24
• Market cap: $22 million.
Corporate Website
ambientcorp.com
ABTG chart:
stockcharts.com[w,a]daclyyay[df][pb50!b200][vc60][iUb14!La12,26,9]&pref=G
Recent Press Releases:
02-2004: EarthLink Joins Ambient Advisory Board and Invest in ABTG
biz.yahoo.com
In addition to join ABTG Advisory Board, Ambient announced that EarthLink has completed an investment of $500,000 in Ambient and has been issued warrants enabling EarthLink to increase, in the future, its ownership position in Ambient.
EarthLink is exploring communications technologies like PLC (also known as broadband over power line (BPL) communications technology) as part of its efforts to extend the reach of its high-speed services
Other ABTG Advisory Board members:
J. Bennett Johnston
Chairman, Former US Senator & Chairman of the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee
Robert Abrams
Former four-term Attorney General of New York
Consolidated Edison, Inc.
Dr. Oleg Vorontsov, PhD
Former Advisor to Russian President Boris Yeltsin’s election campaign
11-2003 ABTG Awarded New Patent; Completes $4.6M Private Placement
news.stockselector.com
11-2003 Ambient Corporation Raises $4.6 Million; A New Ambient Emerges as Financial Barrier to Commercialization is Removed
news.stockselector.com
"This funding, coupled with the continued progress in the Company's patent portfolio, will enable Ambient to move its technology towards commercialization, enter into new strategic development relationships and respond to global opportunities for power line communications"
09-2003 IDACOMM and Ambient Announce Partnership for Deployment of Broadband Over Power Line Technology
biz.yahoo.com
07-2003 Ambient Corporation Receives Key License from Federal Communications Commission
• plugtek.com
The nationwide license allows Ambient to initiate field trials with partners anywhere in the United States without having to apply for individual licenses for each trial.
Other News and Possible Trials:
ABTG's Partner Earthlink and Progessive Energy Testing BPL:
news.com.com
AT&T joins PLC bandwagon with Southern Telecom:
ragingbull.lycos.com
Duke Energy starts PLC Trial:
ragingbull.lycos.com
United Power and Denver Tests PLC
ragingbull.lycos.com
Seattle PLC trials coming - Washington Power Utilities run broadband through the power grid:
seattle.bizjournals.com
Manassas residents will soon be the first in the United States to buy Internet access over city power lines
manassasjm.com!news
THE PATANTS:
Not all BPL providers use "inductive couplers" to get around transformer - thats ABTGs trump card.
Their Pending Patents:
appft1.uspto.gov
Awarded Patents:
appft1.uspto.gov
Access BPL is a new technology to carry broadband Internet traffic over medium voltage power lines. BPL modems that electric utilities and their service partners can install on the electric distribution network also are available now. Medium voltage power lines are the electric lines that you see at the top of electric utility poles beside the roadways in areas that do not have underground electric service. Typically there are three electric lines (called phases A, B and C), each carrying several thousand volts. One phase is usually enough to power the houses on a residential street, two or even three phases can be joined together to power the big electric motors in an industrial or commercial area. (You also may see a fourth wire that is the ground wire.)
Inductive couplers are used to connect BPL modems to the medium voltage power lines. An inductive coupler transfers the communications signal onto the power line by wrapping around the line, without directly connecting to the line. A major challenge is how to deliver the signal from the medium voltage line to the low voltage line that enters your house, because the transformer that lowers the electric power from several thousands volts down to 220/110 is a potential road block to the broadband signal. Several methods are now available that successfully solve this problem.
MORE TECHNICAL INFO ON BROADBAND POWER LINE (BPL)
Broadband power line (BPL) is the term coined by the FCC for new modems (BPL modems) used to deliver IP-based broadband services on electric power
lines.
On April 23, 2003, the FCC adopted a Notice of Inquiry (NOI), expressing
enthusiasm about the potential of the BPL technology to enable electric power
lines to function as a third wire into the home, and create competition with the
copper telephone line and cable television coaxial cable line. The FCC said that
BPL service can be offered now using BPL modems that comply with existing FCC
Rules. However, the FCC also asked whether changes to its rules are needed,
either to remove unnecessary barriers to BPL service or to protect other devices
from interference from BPL modems.
On February 12, 2004, the FCC agreed unanimously--with one partial
dissent--to go forward with a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) on the
subject of Broadband over Power Line (BPL). Anh Wride of the OET staff outlined
the scope of the NPRM, which only addresses so-called "access BPL" -- the
type that would apply radio frequency energy to exterior overhead and
underground low and medium-voltage power lines to distribute broadband and
Internet service. Please see details below on access BPL .
The FCC NOI discusses two types of BPL, In-house BPL and Access BPL.
In-house BPL is a home networking technology that uses the transmission
standards developed by the HomePlug Alliance. Products for in-home networking
using the electric outlets in your home (or office) are available in stores now.
In-house BPL products can comply relatively easily with the radiated emissions
limits in Part 15 of the FCC's Rules, because the products connect directly with
the low voltage electric lines inside your home or office. In-home networking,
while exciting and innovative, is not a major policy concern for the FCC. What
the FCC is really wrestling with is how to get broadband Internet access over
"the last mile" to the home.
One of the publicly traded company doing in-house BPL is KTO (AMEX $3.60).
Access BPL is a new technology to carry broadband Internet traffic over
medium voltage power lines. BPL modems that electric utilities and their service
partners can install on the electric distribution network also are available
now. Medium voltage power lines are the electric lines that you see at the top
of electric utility poles beside the roadways in areas that do not have
underground electric service. Typically there are three electric lines (called
phases A, B and C), each carrying several thousand volts. One phase is usually
enough to power the houses on a residential street, two or even three phases can
be joined together to power the big electric motors in an industrial or
commercial area. (You also may see a fourth wire that is the ground wire.)
Access BPL is what ABTG is exactly doing and ABTG's produCt is inductive
couplers.
Inductive couplers are used to connect BPL modems to the medium voltage
power lines. An inductive coupler transfers the communications signal onto the
power line by wrapping around the line, without directly connecting to the line.
A major challenge is how to deliver the signal from the medium voltage line to
the low voltage line that enters your house, because the transformer that lowers
the electric power from several thousands volts down to 220/110 is a potential
road block to the broadband signal. Several methods are now available that
successfully solve this problem.
BPL modems use silicon chips
designed to send signals over electric power lines, much like cable and DSL
modems use silicon chips designed to send signals over cable and telephone
lines. Advances in processing power enable new BPL modem chips to overcome
difficulties in sending communications signals over the electric power lines
that could not be overcome with less computing power. BPL modem speed, like
cable and DSL modem speeds, is changing rapidly with each advance in new
technology, so it would be difficult to make any generalization here that would
be accurate or timely.
Interference issues between unlicensed devices, including BPL modems, and
other electronic devices are governed by Part 15 of the FCC's Rules. All
electronic devices sold in the U.S. have to meet FCC radio frequency (RF)
emissions limits. When BPL modems are installed on underground electric lines,
the communications signal is shielded by the conduit and the earth and as a
result is unlikely to cause interference to other communications services. The
FCC is more concerned about the interference potential of BPL signals
transmitted on exposed, overhead medium voltage power lines.
Public comment responding to the NOI on BPL is invited by the FCC, both from the
proponents of the new BPL service, i.e., electric utilities and BPL vendors, as
well as those who might be impacted by the BPL signals. For example, on most
electric utility poles you will notice that below the four electric utility
lines there is a lower segment of the pole where telephone and cable television
wires are attached (referred to as the communications space). One of the
questions the FCC asks is whether radiated signals from access BPL systems on
the electric power lines would interfere with signals on the cable and telephone
lines, and vice versa. We can expect a lively debate in the comments filed in
response to the NOI on this issue, since the parties involved are competing for
the same customers.
The NPRM is the next step in the BPL proceeding, which began last April with a
Notice of Inquiry that attracted more than 5100 comments--many from the amateur
community. The FCC did not propose any changes in Part 15 rules governing
emissions from unlicensed devices, but said it would require BPL providers to
apply "adaptive" interference mitigation techniques to their systems.
A more intelligent electric power grid. Speaking of competitors, why
should we care about any of this when 3G wireless cellular telephone networks,
wireless in-home networking and Wi-Fi hotspots claim to have the answer to
delivering broadband to everyone? Electric utilities are not just looking at BPL
as a way of entering the communications business. In fact, they may want to
leave that part of BPL to a partner, perhaps an ISP, a CLEC or a long distance
company looking for an alternative last mile path to their customers. Electric
utilities are interested in BPL because it can give them an intelligent electric
distribution grid. This could result in lower electric power costs, less
pollution and greater reliability and security.
A better connected appliance. What's interesting about BPL is that every
electric device is connected to the electric distribution network. Potentially
then, BPL could let chips in every electric device talk to each other. Could we
put a Wi-Fi, Blue Tooth or other wireless chip in every appliance? Yes - but BPL
may be a better solution. Those who had PC's before the Internet exploded
remember the difference in functionality between a standalone PC and a networked
PC. Networking every electric device together over the power lines might result
in a similar growth in productivity and convenience for your home and office.
FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy, already on record as an
avid BPL supporter, said the Commission was "proceeding cautiously in order
to minimize the potential for harmful interference." Abernathy asked OET Chief
Edmond Thomas to describe a likely interference scenario and "how it might play
out" in terms of the NPRM's interference mitigation provisions.
Thomas said that because BPL systems would have to be registered, it would be
easy to determine if one were in operation in the complainant's vicinity. "If
the answer is yes, they report the interference to the provider," Thomas
continued. "The provider has the capability to adjust his power and the
frequency of operation to mitigate the interference."
Thomas said that in most such circumstances, the BPL provider--as a Part 15
user--would "notch out the frequencies that are offending."
Commissioner Kevin Martin called BPL "an exciting technology,"
and added, "I appreciate the sensitivity that we're trying to exhibit to the
concerns about potential interference, particularly for the government
operations that have been raised by FEMA."
Commissioner Michael Copps said the FCC still faces some difficult questions,
including how to handle cross-subsidization between regulated power businesses
and unregulated communications businesses. "Is it right to allow electricity
ratepayers to pay higher bills each month to subsidize an electric company's
foray into broadband?" he asked his colleagues. Copps dissented in part on his
approval of the NPRM.
Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said he's been impressed by the
potential of BPL technology and thinks the rules changes the FCC is
proposing will "promote future deployment of this kind of service." Adelstein
said, however, that it's crucial that the Commission address technical issues
such as interference.
"I think we need to be mindful of harmful interference, but we can't let
unsupported claims stand in the way of this kind of innovation," Adelstein said.
"We need to do everything we can to move this forward." Adelstein was not
specific in his reference to "unsupported claims."
Chairman Michael Powell called BPL "tremendously exciting."
While conceding that BPL has "a long way to go," the chairman said it also could
be "the great broadband hope for a good part of rural America." Powell also said
the FCC's OET has worked very hard to try to "get their hands around" the issue
of interference and that the FCC would continue its vigilance in that area.
The FCC is expected to issue the complete Notice of Proposed Rule
Making within a few days and will invite comments on it sometime after its publication.
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