Power line broadband continues to gather momentum despite growing interference concerns. The technology, though far from practical use in the States, could be a significant boost to competition in the broadband market, with providers suggesting they'll offer $30 or even $20 monthly fees (though talk is cheap).

FCC chairman Michael Powell earlier this year toured a power line broadband enabled home in Maryland and gave his blessing to the technology. Powell watched the movie "Ice Age" on a flat-screen 42-inch television streaming from another computer miles away, checked his voice mail over an Internet telephone, and watched his picture get printed after it had been taken by the front door security system. "This is within striking distance of being the third major broadband pipe into the home," said Powell at the time. "I'm a little bummed it's not (available) in my area."

Dubbing it a "monumental moment" last April, the FCC voted unanimously to solicit public comment and begin seriously exploring broadband Internet service delivered via power lines. Known officially as BPL (broadband over power lines) at the FCC (its other monicker is power line connectivity or PLC), the inquiry was launched in order to better examine delivery methods of the technology and explore potential interference issues.

Labeled as Docket 03-104 over at the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) website, public response from the tech community has been anything but gentle. The most outspoken group so far has been amateur radio operators, who claim that BPL poses "significant interference potential" to HF and low-VHF spectrum use between 2 and 80 MHz (a synopsis of their concerns can be found in this American Radio Relay League article).

However HAM radio operators aren't alone in their concerns. Out of the roughly 2,000 comments to the FCC on BPL, around ninety-nine percent of them contained some serious skepticism concerning possible interference. The comments are all available at the FCC website, and come from a variety of groups including the IEEE, the National Academy of Sciences (concerned about radio astronomy), the Wireless Communications Association, and the National Association of Broadcasters , among many others.

While PLC overseas has been growing quickly (Sweden and Scotland in particular), an increasing number of trials and small scale applications have been popping up across the United States. The technology is being field tested in a dozen different states, by utility companies like Pepco in Washington, D.C., Ameren in St. Louis, and Pennsylvania Power & Light. Responses by participants of these trials have so far been overwhelmingly positive. Ossining, New York has wired its law enforcement officers with broadband, via Consolidated Edison's power grid in one of several trials.

Among the scattered tests for power line connectivity springing up around the country, trials by Missouri based Ameren Corp seem to be the most advanced. Users recently gave feedback on a 55-home trial taking place in a north Cape Girardeau neighborhood. Subjects are seeing speeds about 5 to 10 times faster than dial-up, and the trial, which has been running since last June, is expected to continue through the summer.

"I'm optimistic," says the CEO of Big River Telephone, Ameren's trial partner. "I think the chances are good. It will offer a new way to get people high-speed Internet. It will also be good for competition. It should bring down prices, and that's always good for the consumer."