Last fall, as it appeared that broadband over powerline (BPL) technology was going to die off completely, IBM announced a new partnership with a small outfit called International Broadband Electric Communications, aimed at exploring the use of BPL in rural markets. The announcement came just as two of BPL's highest profile deployments fizzled, and many BPL hardware vendors begin focusing their attention on smart electrical networks instead of broadband delivery.

IBM's sudden interest in BPL came on the heels of largely fruitless investments in the sector by Earthlink and DirecTV, both of whom were hoping for a magic pipe to help them circumnavigate the telco and cable duopoly. Instead of pretending that BPL is a major broadband pipe, IBM and IBEC seem willing to accept that if BPL ever succeeds, it will be a slower speed, niche player in rural markets with the help of smaller, electrical cooperatives.

IBEC currently only serves about 1,400 customers with broadband (if you call symmetrical 256kbps broadband), but with a $9.6 million cash infusion from IBM and $70 million in loans from the government, the company believes they can build a network in two years that will serve 340,000 homes in Alabama, Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. IBM has been ramping up their efforts to grab some broadband stimulus funds (who isn't?) and as such, Wisconsin locals are excited, if not entirely clued in on BPL's rocky history:Of course the reality has been that many utilities didn't want to jump into the broadband business, where they'd have to do battle with an entrenched duopoly with a vice-like lobbyist grip on U.S. regulators. There's been no shortage of rosy promises on the BPL front, but like the countless outfits before them that have failed, IBEC and IBM need to prove the technology works, that it's profitable, and that it doesn't interfere with ham and emergency radio. Good luck.