Broadband-over-power-line vendor rolls out service

IDG News Service - More than a million residents of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana will have a new broadband option this month in the first large-scale rollout of broadband-over-power-line (BPL) service, despite concerns that the new BPL technology interferes with other radio frequency devices, including ham radios.
Current Communications Group, a BPL vendor, announced today that it's teaming with Cinergy Broadband LLC, a subsidiary of Cinergy Corp., to roll out BPL service in Cinergy's coverage area by March 15, said Brian Lustig, a Current Communications spokesman. Current Communications has been conducting small-scale trials of BPL in the Cincinnati and Potomac, Md., areas for more than a year.
The large-scale rollout will be available to Cinergy's 1.5 million customers in southwestern Ohio, parts of central and southern Indiana and the Kentucky suburbs of Cincinnati. The rollout follows a vote by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission last month to move forward with a process to measure interference caused by BPL service (see story). The FCC move drew criticism from groups such as the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), which contends that the service interferes with ham radio signals.
An ARRL official wasn't immediately available to comment on Current Communications' announcement.
BPL vendors pitch the service as a third broadband choice, in addition to cable modem and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service. FCC commissioners have trumpeted BPL as a broadband option for customers in rural areas where cable and DSL services aren't available.
Current Communications' service will allow consumers to receive broadband through their electrical outlets. Users can plug a HomePlug power line modem into an electric socket anywhere in a house or office without professional installation or additional wiring, according to the company.
The vendor also plans to offer a voice-over-IP service, possibly through a partnership with another company, Lustig said.
Customers in the three states will be able to buy BPL service for $29.95 to $39.95 a month, depending on the connection speed. A second Current Communications joint venture with Cinergy will deploy BPL to smaller municipal and cooperatively owned power companies covering 24 million customers across the U.S. The companies haven't announced a date for that second rollout.