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Broadband over powerline vs. ham radio
December 13, 2005

The market for broadband customer premises equipment appears healthy this year, according to a recent report, as customers purchase cable and DSL modems to take advantage of VoIP and other applications requiring broadband access. But the traditional cable and DSL approaches may yet face competition from BPL (broadband-over-powerline) technology, as recent testing suggests that at least some BPL chip makers are addressing the concerns of amateur radio operators, who fear interference from BPL implementations.

My colleague Maury Wright, EDN chief editor, points out in a recent article that BPL proponents "insist that the best wires for the last mile were strung and connected long ago. But BPL still faces technical hurdles, a potentially nasty standards fight, and angry amateur-radio operators," who are represented by the National Association for Amateur Radio (which is still known by the acronym ARRL, for American Radio Relay League).

Wright reports that ARRL laboratory manager Ed Hare has been involved with testing BPL systems and has worked with a standards organization and a chip maker to try to make BPL work. "My goal is to help BPL succeed," Hare told Wright, adding, "Not all BPL systems will cause interference."

To eliminate interference, chip makers implement "notches" that keep BPL signals out of bands that hams use. Some BPL implementations either don't incorporate the notches or don't properly enable them, however, and the ARRL has formally asked the FCC to shut down a citywide BPL system in Manassas, VA.

But it's encouraging that vendors are working to address noise problems and that the AARL is willing to cooperate. From an economic perspective, BPL is price competitive, with service available for as little as $27 per month. Furthermore, as Wright points out, a BPL-compliant smart power grid enables power-centric functions as automatic meter reading and the ability to remotely control customers' appliances to minimize blackouts and brownouts. It's a technology that deserves additional pursuit.

Posted by Rick Nelson on December 13, 2005 | Comments (0)