Power line broadband comes of age.
Progress Energy uses existing grid and wireless
hops for high-speed access.
Progress Energy, a Raleigh, N.C.-based energy and
utility company,is making a major strategic bet on the future of
broadband delivery over power lines.
The Fortune 250 diversified energy company is
teaming with Earthlink to offer broadband Internet service to
more than 500 homes in several North Carolina
neighborhoods via existing power lines. Unlike most other
utilities nationwide testing broadband delivery over power lines
(BPL),Progress Energy is utilizing so-called Access BPL. This
technology transmits broadband traffic over medium voltage power
lines. A wireless LAN attached to the poles broadcasts the
broadband signal directly to the home or business. A wireless
solution developed by Massachusetts-based Amperion Inc. uses a
combination of fiber optics and power
lines to deliver data to a relay point in each neighborhood.
Progress Energy officials believe the wireless
approach is safer and less expensive to operate (and more
convenient for customers)than traditional power line approaches
that require the actual electrical plug-in of a modem. That
traditional power line delivery, called in-house BPL, connects
service to electrical outlets within the home, moving traffic
from medium-voltage power lines outside. However, detractors say
it is noisy and can create interference problems with other
in-home electrical devices.
PROTOTYPE LAUNCH
Consumers who sign up for the Progress Energy
service, which costs $19.95 a month for the first three months
and $39.95 a month thereafter, receive free wireless equipment
that allow them to access the network from their home and the
surrounding area.
One wireless transformer typically has a range of
around 800 ft. and can cover approximately three houses,
according to Matt Oja, director, emerging technologies, Progress
Energy. Users can access the signal, which delivers 2.5Mbps
downlink speed and 1.3Mbps uplink, both inside and outside their
homes, as long as they stay in range of the wireless signal. Oja
says the wireless system experienced no problem with clouds,
temperature changes or precipitation. Lightning strikes have
impacted transformers, but they were quickly replaced and the
service restored.
However, Oja notes that one weakness the wireless
system has is that dense underbrush or mountainous terrain,
especially in remote areas, can block the transmitting antennae
and degrade or block the signal. “We are not completely
committed to a WiFi solution in all areas,” Oja says.
Progress Energy started testing the Earthlink
service in June 2003 with 25 computers in residential and
commercial locations –and monitoring of distribution line
equipment –in the North Raleigh metropolitan area. The second
phase, launched in February, makes the wireless broadband
service available to some 500 homes. The company will decide
commercial viability at year ’s end.
“We are extremely satisfied with the way the
technology is working, as well as the customer response,” says
Oja. “We think this could be a viable competitive option for
customers in our service area.”
The energy company is competing with high-speed
DSL offerings from local incumbent Bellsouth, as well as cable
modem service providers. Oja says the power line service has
only been marketed since February, but is pulling some customers
away from DSL and cable.
Progress Energy also uses the wireless system to
monitor electrical usage at some homes and to monitor the
utility network for power outages. Line and service personnel
also can utilize the wireless network to remotely access the
corporate Intranet and email.
POWERLINE POPULARITY
Progress Energy is launching its service at a
time when using the power grid to deliver broadband is becoming
more popular after many years of anticipation. Cinergy, based in
Cincinnati, announced in early March that is was joining with
Current Communications to offer high-speed access over power
lines using a new plug-in modem that costs about $30 wholesale
but will be provided free to customers. CINergy launched the
service in two neighborhoods and bills it as cheaper and aster
than DSL or cable modem. The company plans to offer the service
to 60,000 customers by year ’s end at a price ranging from $30
to $40 a month depending on connection speed.
AT&T, meanwhile, has demonstrated to industry
analysts a VoIP phone service using power lines.
In February, the FCC sparked renewed interest in
BPL by proposing rules for utility companies interested in
delivering the service over their grids. Although the rules are
limited and don’t usurp the prerogatives of local public utility
commissions, they were viewed favorably as a first step in
making BPL a reality in rural areas.
FCC Chairman Michael Powell and several
associates toured one of the three BPL sites in March and Oja
says the demonstration was “very favorable.”
SKEPTICISM REMAINS
Although the Progress Energy venture demonstrates
that the technology has greatly improved, start-up costs have
diminished and the broadband market has reached critical mass,
skeptics still abound.
Matt Davis, director of broadband access
technologies at research firm Yankee Group, believes that
utility companies have come late to the broadband market and ace
an uphill battle against DSL and cable providers who can offer
cheaper, bundled services to their customers.
“It ’s a niche technology that has some different
attributes to certain segments of the subscriber base,” says
Davis. But traditionally, new players have to disrupt the
marketplace either in price or with the technology or both.
Right now, Davis sees the utility companies accomplishing
neither.
“Everybody likes to root for the little guy. And
the FCC would like to see another broadband alternative. But
with no standards and no bundled services, it will be
difficult.”
