The FCC Gives Love to Powerline BroadbandClassifies it as Information Service to expedite deployment ( old news - 03:09PM Friday Nov 03 2006) tags: competition · fcc · BPLThe FCC today slapped the "information service" tag on broadband over powerline (BPL) technology ( pdf press release). The move is intended to free the technology from regulation and expedite BPL's ascension as a significant competitor for your broadband dollar. Cable is considered an "information service" (after some legal combat), and DSL was recently reclassified as such by the FCC, also in the hopes that less regulation would lead to increased deployment. "The Commission’s broadband statistics show that subscribers to BPL Internet access services, although few in number overall, increased by nearly 200% in 2005," says FCC chief Kevin Martin in a prepared statement. "By encouraging the development of new technologies, such as BPL, we can best achieve the President’s goal of universal broadband by the end of 2007," proclaims Martin. The FCC's last broadband report (pdf) listed 5,859 BPL customers in the United States as of December, 2005. The majority of those customers are participating in utility trials that may, or may not, expand. Many utilities are interested in BPL solely as a smart-network monitoring solution, and are not yet sold on the ROI of getting into the residential broadband business.
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 Vghrlt
join:2006-07-20
Durham, NC | bring it on ASAP Johnny | |
| feelthepain
Premium
join:2006-04-08
San Antonio, TX |  Powerline Broadband
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sadradiolifer
@midco.net
| Re: Powerline Broadband well thanks fcc for messing up another dumb thing say goodbye to less interfering radio noise. that's ofcourse if any company even thinks about deploying this in rural areas i think not wifi and cable and dsl extended look better than bpl at this time just my 2 cents. | |
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hamburglar_
join:2002-04-29
Columbus, OH
 ·WOW Internet and C..
| Re: Powerline Broadband said by sadradiolifer :
well thanks fcc for messing up another dumb thing say goodbye to less interfering radio noise. that's ofcourse if any company even thinks about deploying this in rural areas i think not wifi and cable and dsl extended look better than bpl at this time just my 2 cents.
huh? | |
| | 89707828
join:2006-10-24
Chicago, IL
| said by feelthepain  :Q: Is this, also, intended to span the broadband divide to rural America? A: No. Despite some uninformed punditry to the contrary, no attempt has been made to deploy this to the unwired, unbroadbanded masses in the sticks. | |
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BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| Re: Powerline Broadband said by 89707828 :said by feelthepain :Q: Is this, also, intended to span the broadband divide to rural America? A: No. Despite some uninformed punditry to the contrary, no attempt has been made to deploy this to the unwired, unbroadbanded masses in the sticks. Not yet. If they see they can make $$$ off off that then yes they will do it. And the money is there to be made. If prices are competitive why wouldn't people not in the sticks not want this option? Afterall unlike Verizon and FIOS which they have to lay out masive loads of new fiber the infrustructure is already there with BPL since 99.9% of homes have electricity. | |
| | | | 89707828
join:2006-10-24
Chicago, IL
| Re: Powerline Broadband You've still got to get it to the customers. When those customers are one or two to a transformer and spaced 1-2 miles apart, there is no sensible economic model that works. You still have to get the data to and from remote substations, and you still have to deal with the physics of power distribution systems. This is not the same as Homeplug, and the infrastructure is not already in place.
If BPL was the savior of rural America, it would already be deployed. This is not a new idea. | |
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BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| Re: Powerline Broadband said by 89707828 : and the infrastructure is not already in place. I would put cash money on BPL being offered in my area long before FIOS ever is. Fact is I already have electric wires to my house. The nearest FIOS fiber is oh about 700 miles away. | |
| | | | | | 89707828
join:2006-10-24
Chicago, IL | Re: Powerline Broadband Who said anything about FiOS?
Electric wires are just the starting point for BPL. There is a lot of other equipment involved. | |
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rf_engineer
join:2003-08-04
USA
| said by BF69 :said by 89707828 :said by feelthepain :Q: Is this, also, intended to span the broadband divide to rural America? A: No. Despite some uninformed punditry to the contrary, no attempt has been made to deploy this to the unwired, unbroadbanded masses in the sticks. Not yet. If they see they can make $$$ off off that then yes they will do it. And the money is there to be made. If prices are competitive why wouldn't people not in the sticks not want this option? Afterall unlike Verizon and FIOS which they have to lay out masive loads of new fiber the infrustructure is already there with BPL since 99.9% of homes have electricity. The problem is you need to get the Internet to the BPL feedpoints. BPL only goes a mile or two; it's not a long haul technology. And what do you use to get the Internet to the feedpoint....fiber or T1s  Also, the powerline is only one part of the BPL infrastructure. You need repeaters and feedpoints and you need to cleanup all the noise that's on the line to get it to work. If it was as easy as turning on a switch, everyone that has electricity would have BPL and it would be price competitive. However after three years of non-stop promotion and about six years of development before that, BPL is still hovering around 5,500 customers and you can count the number of rural systems on one hand. ( Anyone know how many customers DSL or cable had after nine years? ) | |
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morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000
clubs: | oh no. why doesn't this just die already! i put this in the same category as blimp-band! | |
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shortckt
Watchen Das Blinken Lights
Premium
join:2000-12-05
Tenant Hell
| BPL for utility's own use said by news story :
Many utilities are interested in BPL solely as a smart-network monitoring solution, and are not yet sold on the ROI of getting into the residential broadband business. If a utility wanted to use BPL only for their own internal purposes (e.g. to read the meters remotely) they are not providing broadband as a service and are not affected by taxes & tariffs as an information service. Utilities have other time-tested ways of doing telemetry, they don't have to wait for BPL. | |
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Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY
 ·Qwest.net
2 edits | It figures....
Hanky The BPL Poo, He makes the FCC act like fools. But Hanky's money counts a lot because the FFC is hot to trot. |
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The older I get the more I prefer the company of my dogs over that of man kind. | |
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91439306
15,000 Watts of Bass Power
join:2002-10-16
New Milford, CT | FCC: From Technical Regulatory Agency to Political Lobbyists So there we have it: the FCC, once a technical regulatory body, protecting the spectrum, has sold out to the interests of business needs over physics. FCC: Telecom business' new lobbyists. | |
| | | nasadude
join:2001-10-05
Rockville, MD
·Comcast
| It's all for show The FCC drags out something related to BPL every now and then so it won't be forgotten. There are no significant deployments or progress to report, so the FCC has to do something - press releases and ginned up announcements are fine for their purposes.
And what is the FCC purpose?
To keep the myth of BPL alive as another competitor in the broadband space. We don't have real competition, but the FCC has to keep that lie alive so their craven kowtowing to the telecumbents doesn't seem like craven kowtowing; as long as pretend competition is alive, it justifies the complete deregulation of broadband (except for the regulations the incumbents like). | |
| BPL 200 Mbps
join:2006-11-05
Toms River, NJ
|  Broadband via Powerline is for voip, web, hdtv & smart grids
BPL speed is symmetrical and the upload speed of new BPL technologies is equal or faster than cable speed.
read: »xrl.us/spnp
So much misinformation surrounding BPL, and conferences were a bit expensive too for regular investors. But if you search them on the web, you will be able to educate yourself and turn to love this technology.
Give BPL investors a chance to innovate using this new BPL technology. | |
| | N3EVL
join:2004-12-13
Shrewsbury, MA
| Re: Broadband via Powerline is for voip, web, hdtv & smart grids Even if your glowing report of the benefits of this technology were true, no amount of "education" can overcome its inherent problem with interference to licensed services: potential investors would do better to educate themselves on the physics of electromagnetic radiation before they decide to "love" this sorry technology.
Of course, if such investors choose to accept the assurances of the BPL community that interference either does not exist/has been fixed/doesn't matter (whatever the current flavor or state of denial) then it's their funeral. | |
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rf_engineer
join:2003-08-04
USA
| Re: Broadband via Powerline is for voip, web, hdtv & smart grids And then they out-of-the-blue implemented a rule not mentioned in previous proceedings that invalidates any mobile interference complaints if the BPL provider is 20 dB (10 dB for VHF) below Part 15 emissions limits. So basically, if you're a business or public safety organization and you experience BPL interference on VHF frequencies, all the BPL system has to do is drop 10 dB below emissions limits. If you still have interference, too bad for you. I'm amazed at how blatantly bad this FCC move was, and how it was implemented at the last moment with no public comment period. Pretty brazen....and ripe for an appeal.
The ARRL is taking this and the 40 dB per decade extrapolation field measurement standard to appeals court »www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/1···00/?nc=1 . The 40 dB extrapolation factor can be shown to be wrong with a spreadsheet. IANAL, but I think a real-life demonstration would get 20db/10dB mobile rule thrown out by an impartial judge.
If anyone should be complaining about the FCC rules, it should be people like you. Rules like this invalidate the hard work and investment of those who have exceeded FCC requirements. These rules essentially lowered the bar for less technically advanced companines and makes the barrier for entry for new companies in the future lower, while potentially threatening the reliability of wireless communications. | |
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rf_engineer
join:2003-08-04
USA
| said by BPL 200 Mbps :Now that the FCC gives the BPL investors clear set of rules, their investments will not be wasted. I'm not sure it makes that much of a difference. Several companies have gone on to build commercial BPL systems long before this ruling. I think it was assumed by everyone the historically pro-BPL FCC would rule BPL as an information service, so I can't see how this is some landmark decision for BPL companies or investors.
Cable and DSL continue to add more customers each day than BPL has turned up in the past three years in the US. And overall broadband growth numbers are slowing indicating saturation. So really, it's just another day.
BPL speed is symmetrical and the upload speed of new BPL technologies is equal or faster than cable speed. Perhaps, but that's only one attribute. Cost and reliability are two other very important factors. And asymetrical cable speeds are really the choice of the cable carrier and not a technology limitation (like it is with DSL).
But if you search them on the web, you will be able to educate yourself and turn to love this technology.
Especially if you have skin in the game
Give BPL investors a chance to innovate using this new BPL technology.
It's a free market and there's been years to "innovate", no one is stopping anyone. The broadband market and demand was already created by DSL and cable. The FCC made it their mission to promote BPL at every opportunity. About all that is left to try is to give away BPL with AOL CDs. | |
| | | BPL 200 Mbps
join:2006-11-05
Toms River, NJ
| Re: Broadband via Powerline is for voip, web, hdtv & smart grids Go to DS2.es website and you`ll find that the new 200 Mbps speed is going to be the worlds Broadband over Power Line`s Chipset standard, not the older version of Powerline networking you were talking about.
Slowly, the big NETWORKING companies, were adopting DS2 chipsets for BROADBAND BPL !!!
FCC made the Access BPL deployments` rules certain and clear.
SOURCE: www.FCC.GOV
FCC CLASSIFIES BROADBAND OVER POWER LINE-ENABLED INTERNET
ACCESS AS “INFORMATION SERVICE”
Classification Provides Certainty for BPL Providers to Increase Broadband Deployment
Washington, D.C. – The Federal Communications Commission today declares
Broadband over Power Line (BPL)-enabled Internet access service to be an information service.
The order places BPL-enabled Internet access service on an equal regulatory footing with other
broadband services, such as cable modem service and DSL Internet access service. Competition
among broadband services providers will provide consumers with more and better services at
lower prices.
Specifically, the Order finds that the transmission component underlying BPL-enabled
Internet access service is “telecommunications,” and that the provision of this
telecommunications transmission component as part of a functionally integrated, finished BPLenabled
Internet access service offering is an information service. This approach is consistent
with the framework that the Commission has established for cable modem service and wireline
broadband Internet access service, furthering the Commission’s goal of regulating like services
in a similar manner.
In reaching these determinations, the Commission provides regulatory certainty regarding
the classification of this service, thereby encouraging deployment of BPL-enabled Internet
access to consumers.
Action by the Commission, November 3, 2006, by Memorandum Opinion and Order (FCC 06-
165). Chairman Martin, Commissioner Tate, with Commissioners Copps and Adelstein
concurring, and Commissioner McDowell not participating. Separate statements issued by
Chairman Martin, Commissioners Copps, Adelstein, and Tate. | |
| | | | BPL 200 Mbps
join:2006-11-05
Toms River, NJ
| Re: Broadband via Powerline is for voip, web, hdtv & smart grids updates
read: »xrl.us/s36d
DS2 to supply the Japanese market with HDTV-quality high speed Power Line Communication chips !!!
Leading silicon supplier will meet the new regulatory limits and measurement methods set for High-Speed Power Line Communications.
Tokyo, 07, November, 2006 – DS2 today announced that it is to serve the domestic Japanese market with silicon that meets the EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) requirements for PLC applications recently approved by the Japanese Government. DS2 is the leading provider of high speed silicon for Powerline communications (PLC) applications, including triple play home networking, currently sold to service providers and into retail stores through leading modem manufacturers worldwide,.
The new Japanese regulation is more stringent than similar regulations in force in Europe and the US. The permitted signal level in the 2 Mhz to 15 MHz range is 5 times smaller in Japan and in the 15 to 30 MHz range it is 16 time smaller. These new EMC requirements will put some PLC silicon suppliers in a difficult position. To meet these requirements they will have to reduce throughput to such levels that they will be unable to deliver video.
Ramon Garcia, Director of DS2´s Asian office in Tokyo, states that “DS2 will be able to guarantee a level of throughput that will deliver HDTV while meeting the new requirements. Designed with multimedia in mind from the start, and having unique features such as programmable notch filtering, DS2 has vast overseas experience. Recent developments to meet the Japanese domestic market requirements have proved that DS2 Silicon will be able to clear the stringent limits while maintaining high speeds”.
Telecommunication operators in Hong Kong, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Portugal and other overseas markets have compared and selected DS2 technology for their triple play commercial services due to its unqiue features such as high throughput, QoS, remote manageability, repeating function and wide area coverage. Modem manufacturers including Comtrend, Corinex, Netgear, Pirelli, Telsey and others using DS2 technology have succeeded in all continents and have been the first to develop and sell product for multimedia home networking in retail stores. | |
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