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story category BPL: Unfounded Optimism
Niche player or major DSL/Cable competitor?
(old news - 03:26PM Monday Oct 17 2005)
tags: business · alternatives · Op/Ed · BPL
Investment from Google and IBM has renewed interest in broadband over power-lines, but it has also spawned a new wave of unfounded optimism. The past several months has seen a number of BPL trials shut down, while several research firms (see these two reports) predict the technology simply isn't going to amount to much more than a niche solution - and even that depends on whether or not interference and ROI concerns are addressed.

Yet here comes another chipper surface piece, this time from the NY Times (use Bug Me Not) which proclaims the technology "is poised to challenge the cable and phone companies that dominate the high-speed Internet market." Really?

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Forums » BPL: Unfounded Optimism
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woody7
Premium
join:2000-10-13
Torrance, CA

hmmm.....

If our cable and telcos really cared about us, this wouldn't be an issue or topic of discussion...JMT
--
BlooMe

hitachi369
Embrace Your Rights
Premium
join:2001-10-03
Grand Rapids, MI
·AT&T U-Verse

Re: hmmm.....

said by woody7 See Profile :

If our cable and telcos really cared about us, this wouldn't be an issue or topic of discussion...JMT
Customer service doesnt exist in any large corporation.
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Please view the Hitachi3694MVM page at http://mvm4.hitachi369.com

99664227
Heavily MODerated
Premium
join:2002-11-21
USA

Re: hmmm.....

said by hitachi369 See Profile :

said by woody7 See Profile :

If our cable and telcos really cared about us, this wouldn't be an issue or topic of discussion...JMT
Customer service doesnt exist in any large corporation.
So true.
--
Plan your trade and trade your plan.
phaqu

join:2005-05-26
Marietta, GA

said by hitachi369 See Profile :

Customer service doesnt exist in any large corporation.
True..., unfortunately true.
jester121

join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL
Sure it does -- you just have to pay extra for it!

GOLFnSUN
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Comcast

BPL getting more press coverage than it deserves

BPL is on the low burner pretty much everywhere. It isn't going anywhere and I don't see why the press(and BBR) spends so much time covering it. Let it die in peace.
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rf_engineer

join:2003-08-04
USA

Re: BPL getting more press coverage than it deserves

There's several organizations promoting BPL and journalists are more than happy to create articles from spoon fed information these groups supply. Nearly all these rosy articles follow the same pattern. I've considered making a online wizard to generate articles, just plug in the name of the company and the town and select what neato attributes you want BPL to have. Hit the submit button and up pops your article ready for publication

The BPL promotion engine does seem to be in overdrive already this week and it's only Monday. I would guess the PPL announcement that they were ducking out of BPL and the ARRL request to the FCC to enforce their own rules in Manassas, VA has some folks working overtime.

garagerock
Premium
join:2002-06-14
Louisville, KY

why does...

every last mile solution that isn't cable or DSL considered either a fringe player, or the savior of all that's good? can't it be in the middle...something that is used when other options are either unavailable or "non deployable" by the incumbents? why does BPL/Wimax et al have to be marketed as the be-all, end-all solution?

Wills

join:2001-01-03
Port Charlotte, FL

Re: why does...

Because the large companies want you to think it's a fringe player so you won't switch. And the companies that support it want it to be the savior so investors won't lose interest.

You didn't actually think your well being was actually a player did you?
--
I have a shaved head, a goatee, and tatoos. Don't you realize the rules don't apply to me.
RayW
Premium
join:2001-09-01
Layton, UT
clubs:
·XMission

Because some things are just not viable or ignore other facets of life?

And BPL is not just a 'last mile' solution, many papers touting BPL say 'no new wires'. That means for pure BPL you either are sending HF/VHF signals over a large antenna system (with the attendant radiation and line loss and a LOT of amplifiers and jumpers) or you cheat and run fiber to the local substations. By then you might as well go with a wireless signal. We have a lot of those private wireless systems popping up around here and from what some friends of mine say, it is a good system. The power company could have made a killing if they went that route with fiber on their right-of-way instead of trying to force a flawed technology.
--
I am not lost, I find myself every time.

batageek
Slave To The Duopoly
Premium
join:2003-01-25

No slag intended here and please feel free to set me straight...

If the goal of BPL is to serve internet access, and possibly VOIP, to underserved remote areas that sounds great.

But if you're not providing video too (which would seem to be too bandwidth intensive for BPL), why wouldn't you use WiFi instead?

The Wifi bandwidth is greater and the equipment is cheaper (I would guess). Rolling out wifi to the rural masses has got to be a lot easier (and cheaper) via wifi than bpl.

I've tried over and over to get the allure of BPL, but I can't find it. That combined with the lack of any sense of threat from the incumbent "providers" or mass scaling of BPL equipment providers would lead me to think this is going nowhere.

Please, someone, show me the light on BPL and why it's good.

itguy35

@68.188.x.x

Re: why does...

A local power company here in MO has been running fiber to substations for quite a while now. Since it is a co-op (non profit) they're leasing the "extra" bandwidth off their gig fiber lines to local schools for prices you couldn't throw a stick at. They're in the process of upgrading 2 local school districts from 3 T1s (4.5mb) each to 10mb fiber for no extra cost (and no installation charges). The added bandwidth will allow for much more distance learning to take place. Since I work for one of the districts I applaud the power company for connecting their substations and helping kids while they're at it.

batageek
Slave To The Duopoly
Premium
join:2003-01-25

Re: why does...

And that's great. The city I live in has run fiber (they own their electric utility too) to their buildings, substations, and schools as well.

But my question is specific to BPL technology, or delivering the last mile over powerline. Sure the backbone is fiber, but the most I've seen offered anywhere via BPL (again correct me if I'm wrong) is about 6 meg down. If 802.11b already exceeds that right now, why would an investment in BPL make sense at all? I'm sure the utility would find wifi "drops" cheaper than all the gear necessary to make a BPL drop to a home, even if they over built the system and had a one-to-one drop requirement (one home gets a direct dedicated point to point wireless or BPL connection).

I'd like to be supportive, but I don't get it.
--
»www.tricitybroadband.com
w2co

join:2003-07-16
Longmont, CO

Re: why does...

"I'd like to be supportive, but I don't get it"

Well you smell a dog and don't realize it yet...
Go with your first intuitions and stay away from BPL beleive me it's nothing but a dog, and a dead one at that.
Nothing but a big problem for everyone.

Dagda1175

join:2001-06-17
Goleta, CA

BPL FAQ

»www.qrpis.org/~k3ng/bpl.html All true? I have no way of knowing, i just found this. interesting read though.

packetscan
Premium
join:2004-10-19
Bridgeport, CT
clubs:

More FUD

I wonder who paid for this article. Challenger to dsl and cable, ROFLmao.
w2co

join:2003-07-16
Longmont, CO

Rubbish

"the technology "is poised to challenge the cable and phone companies that dominate the high-speed Internet market." Really?"
Too bad many non-technical but otherwise good people read and believe this rubbish! They deserve to be shot for publishing this crap after all the facts (if they care to research it) point to BPL's unsolved (and never will be solved) problems. Oh no all they write is the rosy dreams of a few politically educated morons. I got news for them Part 15 rules!
CQ DX -.. . .-- ..--- -.-. ---
Nighttime

join:2001-11-30


1 edit

Re: Rubbish

Thats if both dissapear tomorrow!!!

Love the glow of that tube! Had a 4-1000A based amp with my Father built out of Henry heavy duty componets.

Its a dead horse! BPL keep re cooking the story. First rural. Now compition.

Its a problem hiding as a solution.
Slacker44

join:2001-05-10
Gilbert, AZ

Old

Why does every newspaper article about BPL show up here. This same article is just rewritten over and over again. Rinse and repeat. We'll see this article again next week. I'll see you there.

/old

whateverwho

@midco.net

Re: Old

bpl is slow cable is fast i'm getting 13 mb speeds for 29.95 and my cable company is doing more upgrades all the time if bpl gets going it's going to be like dailup slow and old. just drop the bpl thing and get more into makeing a OC-192 conntection to my house. ha ha ha. right.

n2jtx

join:2001-01-13
Glen Head, NY
·Optimum Online

The BPL Spin Machine

Obviously the BPL folks are trying to drum business in light of the rash of failed trials. Sadly there are company's that are still nibbling or showing interest. Here on Long Island, it was announced a few weeks ago that the Long Island Power Authority, a government entity no less, was looking into the possibility of offering BPL here. Frankly, this is one of the last places on Earth where BPL is needed. We already have Optimum Online running at 10Mbit/sec (possibly upgrading to 20MBit/sec in the not too distant future), we have very good DSL penetration and Verizon FiOS is being rolled out all over. BPL is going to compete with these two technologies? Give me a break. The only "winners" should LIPA decide to go forward will be the BPL equipment manufacturers, who I am sure do not give refunds on used equipment, and the power company technicians who install it. The ratepayers and taxpayers will take it in the wallet.
--
I support the right to keep and arm bears.
w2co

join:2003-07-16
Longmont, CO

Re: The BPL Spin Machine

Click for full size
As you say there is no need for a limping technology like BPL in the areas that already have much greater methods of broadband technologies. Yet all they do is deploy this crap as "test sites" in these areas that already have broadband. I thought they were supposed to deploy the test sites in remote areas? Oh forgot they would have to install 15000 repeaters to reach 30 miles out, and then the reliability would most certainly get killed by all the possible ingress to it in that much of a distance, another thing the companies pushing this crap fail to research. Oh well BPL people get a life and I hate to tell you but I told you so...
-.-. --.- -.. -..- -.. . .-- ..--- -.-. --- -.-

wallaby

join:1999-12-16
Cincinnati, OH
·QuantumVoice


1 edit

It Does Work!

Yeah its a small offering compared to DSL/Cable, but it works well to those of us that actually use it! I am one of the Current Link users in Cincinnati with 3/3 Mbps service, no asymetrical crap here! Its cheaper than DSL , $32.46 to be exact and is just as stable as cable. Bear in mind, the power companies are interested in more than just a broadband offering: remote meter reading, voip and video offerings. For the ones who make a long term commitment, I see real competition. Newer chips will increase speeds substantially and are just around the corner. At least we have another option here! No extra wires, no truck roll! Oh and I dont have to bundle anything. Yeah, its not a 7-10 Mbps service, but it offers a reasonable priced alternative.
w2co

join:2003-07-16
Longmont, CO

Re: It Does Work!

Are there any interference complaints there?
Or do you keep up with that?

wallaby

join:1999-12-16
Cincinnati, OH
·QuantumVoice


1 edit

Re: It Does Work!

I only know one "Ham" radio guy and he claims he never has seen an issue. Lives about 13-14 miles from me. A Current tech once claimed they modified the Asoka adapters they use to avoid possible interference. Never heard any complaints around here otherwise.
w2co

join:2003-07-16
Longmont, CO

Re: It Does Work!

Oh yeah now I remember that is the site where they raised the operating frequency of BPL up above 30Mhz to avoid interference complaints. It was a good idea however is flawed in a few ways , there are a few services in the 50-70 Mhz regions however operations there are few and far between compared to below 30Mhz. There is one amateur band there right at 50Mhz (6 meter band), but again there is hardly any activity there, and there are some highway patrol freq.s above that a little but not in use everywhere in the country. They typically use those freq.s in the western states where the distances are far and the horizon is wide like the desert states. It (BPL) still is subject to part 15 rules in case someone wants to use 50Mhz or above, and if there is interference caused by that system they would have to cease as well. Just keep that in mind and you will not be surprised when they too shut down because of interfering with whatever. Part 15 devices have absolutely no rights to any freq. in the rf spectrum being an unlicensed unintentional radiator.
Forums » BPL: Unfounded Optimism


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