On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 22:23:07 -0400, Dave Holford
wrote in Message-Id:
:

IIRC BPL has
been banned in some administrations for precisely that reason - ISTR
that Japan is one such administration.

Broadband Over Powerline products are currently available in the US:
http://www.plugtek.com/cgi-bin/axhit...rlinestore.com

More information he
http://www.broadband-over-powerline...._Powerline.htm

Broadband Over Powerline FCC Report Broadband over Powerlines 2003
April 23, 2003
SPECIAL BULLETIN

On Wednesday, April 23, 2003, the FCC unanimously adopted a Notice of
Inquiry (NOI) regarding carrier current systems, including broadband
over power line systems. Although the NOI has not been released yet,
the remarks of the Commissioners, who were "excited" about this
"historic breakthrough", are encouraging signs that the NOI will
promote broadband powerline. The Office of Engineering and Technology
(OET) presented the item during the open commission meeting and
explained that the NOI will look at both access and in-home broadband
powerline in order (1) to gather information about broadband powerline
capabilities and deployment; (2) to address the potential interference
effects, if any on authorized spectrum users and (3) to explore the
appropriate measurement procedure for testing emission characteristics
for all types of carrier current systems.
The United PowerLine Council (UPLC) is pleased by the support of the
FCC to promote broadband over powerline through its NOI that it
initiated. The UPLC agrees with the commissioners' sense that the NOI
will mark an historic moment, unveiling broadband over powerline as
the elusive third wire to the home or business that Congress, the FCC
and the states have sought since the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
As Chairman Powell has said, "Broadband deployment is the central
communications policy objective in America today," and transforming
every electric plug into a broadband port is "huge".

Broadband over powerlines is huge for both communications and electric
customers, because it supports commercial applications, such as
broadband Internet access, and improves the quality, efficiency and
reliability of electric services. Broadband consumers get plug and
play access that also networks the entire home or business. They can
surf the web, Internet message, talk on the phone and stream audio and
video all at the same time anywhere in the home. Powerline also
enhances utility services, such as automatic meter reading, load
management and outage detection, thereby improving electric services,
reducing consumption, and securing America's critical infrastructure.

Not only does this technology realize the vision of broadband over
powerlines, it also realizes the vision of the Telecommunications Act
of 1996 by positioning utilities as the third major competitor (in
addition to telecommunications and cable TV) in the retail
communications market. Congress sought to encourage utility entry by
providing a streamlined process that exempts certain utilities from
restrictions that would otherwise prevent them from offering
communications services. As Chairman Powell recognized during the
adoption of the NOI , broadband over powerline places utilities "on
the cutting edge of [a] dramatic digital migration", offering advanced
retail services to customers using the existing electric distribution
infrastructure so that services can be provided quickly without costly
street cuts or truck rolls.

The future of broadband over powerlines will be shaped by progressive
policies both at the state and federal levels of government. In
addition to working with the FCC on its NOI , the UPLC looks forward
to working with the states to eliminate obstacles that would
discourage investor-owned, municipal and cooperatively-organized
utilities from providing broadband over powerline. Encouraging
utilities to deploy this nascent technology will stimulate investment
in facilities-based competition, drive economic growth, and help to
remedy the digital divide, while improving energy efficiency and
infrastructure security and reliability. The UPLC applauds the
Commission's leadership towards these goals in initiating its NOI.
(c)2003 United PowerLine Council

--

Irrational beliefs ultimately lead to irrational acts.
-- Larry Dighera,