e: [BC] Update on BPL

[Tom Taggart]

As a paractical matter, I suspect that the utility-based BPL will die a  
natural death. No BPL system will work very well if the power line  
environment is excessively noisy because of various defects in the grid.   
Many US utilities have enough trouble just keeping the lights on, let  
alone keeping their system clean enough to use for BPL. After a lot of  
prodding, one local intereference source was cleaned up in our small  
town.  Turns out a pole that carried the junction of two 11 kv lines had  
arcing over to a metal bracket. The top of the pole was almost burned in  
half. This same company was forced to turn over several counties in Ohio  
to a rival power company by the state utility regulators.

Hence a wide roll-out of BPL would require expensive repairs to the grid.   
Not to mention on-going maintenance costs for the RF systems, requiring  
the hiring of new people or retraining of exisiting crews.  Plus customer  
relations staff. I don't think the trial systems have produced enough  
revenue to entice the utility foks to take up this burden.

FCC Commissioners Powell and Abernathy particularly championed BPL. Since  
the FCC is in charge of national telephone regulation as well as radio  
regulation, I'll be charitable and assume they were promoting BPL to prod  
the telephone companies to get into broadband.  Recent FCC rules changes  
further encouraged the telephone companies to make this investment.  So  
fiber will emerge as another challenge to any wide roll-out of BPL  
systems. Now that Powell is long gone, and Abernathy is retiring shortly,  
I suspect any Federal enthusiasm for BPL will evaporate.

However, I remember reading a recent article in one of the computer  
magazines (PC maybe?) that featured a Sony device designed as a "home BPL"  
system, or more accurately, an office/plant BPL where wireless devices  
would not work well.

Coming soon to an office park near you.  Instant interference.


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