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Posted by John on February 10, 2005, 7:08 pm
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phil-news-nospam@ipal.net wrote:
> | Don Lancaster wrote:
> |
> |> I guess I was involved in the earliest of powerline carrier
> |> communications. Back in 1961 at Femco.
> |>
> |> It did not work then and it will not work now.
> |>
> |> Ferinstance, an ancient Diablo 630 printer has such a good noise filter
> |> that it takes out any X-10 device within 200 feet.
> |
> | Powerline communications doesn't work in the 21st century? Really? Gosh
> | somebody forgot to tell these people:
> | http://www.powerlinecommunications.net/whatispowerline.htm
> |
> | PPL has had running broadband Internet over powerline services in select
> | markets for a few years now. Some other utilties have similar programs.
> | http://www.thestreet.com/_tsclsii/tech/themarker/10045487.html
> |
> | Utilities not only have another revenue stream and an efficient Internet
> | distribution method, but also gain the benefit of a communications channel
> | to/from their meters.
> |
> | The ARRL (amateur radio group) has spoken out against some powerline
> | communications, out of fears that it will cause interference to them.
>
> Hams continue to speak out well after BPL is operating. The interference
> is documented. Further, BPL is, itself, ruined by nearby transmitters.
>
> Although any wire infrastructure can carry data, it does have limits based
> on many factors. And power lines are not designed for high data rates.
> They are unshielded, and as a result are susceptible to interference, and
> radiate their own interference. Phone lines also have documented problems,
> but at least they are twisted. The only part of the power lines that are
> twisted are the triplex overhead drops.
>
> BPL is going to be very limited in top speed. As bandwidth goes up, so goes
> the sensitivity to noise and interference. Things like electronic ballasts
> operating between 20 kHz and 50 kHz are going to be another interference
> source.
>
> The power companies are just playing a "me, too" game on this. They wanted
> in on the "riches" the internet was bringing to telephone and cable companies.
> But as the bandwidth demands of the market top 100 mbps, power companies are
> going to be playing the tune "where'd they go?".
Only 100 Mbps? That's a hell of a lot more then dial-up, which is the only hope
of any Internet access at all (save satellite) in much of the USA where cable is
not available and DSL lines are not available either due to DSL's numerous
limitations. It's a lot more then DSL capabilities and cable broadband offerings
too.
You forget that the power utilities aren't setting out to do this to become
Internet companies, they were looking for efficient ways to communicate with
their
meters (and utility controlled thermostats). Being able to offer and sell
Internet broadband access is a nice side effect of having the infrastructure.
> It's a bad investment for
> the power companies. Right now, I wouldn't put any money in their stock.
PPL has done quite nicely the last few years and is a fairly conservatively run
company.
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