republican-creole
site Search:


 
   
story category
IBM Hopes To Reach 200k Customers With BPL
With the help of some government funds...
by Karl Bode Thursday 19-Feb-2009 tags: coverage · business · alternatives · BPL
Because of interference concerns and other limitations, broadband over powerline (BPL) all but died last year as a serious player in the broadband industry, with only five thousand or so users connected with the technology despite nearly a decade of hype from BPL vendors. Still, IBM recently decided to partner with a small newcomer called International Broadband Electric Communications (IBEC) to explore using BPL in rural markets, and says they could reach 200,000 customers. The $9.6 million partnership involves deploying BPL networks through seven electric cooperatives in Virginia, Michigan, Alabama and Indiana -- with IBEC acting as the ISP. Some of the deployments are thanks to rural grants provided by the Department of Agriculture, so IBM has been making the rounds of late to suggest they should be one of the prime beneficiaries of any new funds.

view: topics flat text 
Post a:

jadebangle
Premium
join:2007-05-22
00000
Reviews:
·SureWest Internet
·AT&T Yahoo
·Comcast

Sign me up for their guinea pig experimentation

I heard they have speed of 1/1, 5/5, 10/10 which is not bad.
That was then but now it would be something like 15/15, 30/30
IMHO symmetrical connection is something that scare DSL and Cable provider
They know that if we have a better choice their so called asymmetrical broadband would be obsolete or useless to most user

cameronsfx

join:2009-01-08
Panama City, FL

Re: Sign me up for their guinea pig experimentation

I have yet to see BPL work. Gulf Power investigated it but thought it wasn't worth the pain. I know it is symmetrical HSI.

I have no idea why the Feds don't just build a fiber network and rent it to ISPs. But, that would make too much damn sense. I know businesses that would kill for it. They could let most employees work from home.
dsdunbar

join:2004-07-24
Melissa, TX
BPL (or PLC, as it is called in Europe) is a hokey and crude way to send RF signals. The lines themselves will radiate interference (aptly demonstrated over and over again), and they will also be subject to interference from other radio services. www.arrl.org/bpl has lots of good info on it.

BPL is a horrid joke -- shame on IBM for promoting junk technology.

I'm all in favor of getting respectable broadband into rural areas, and I agree with the other poster -- bite the bullet, put fiber in, and in some cases use wireless to go the last few miles.

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus

join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

3 edits

The Real Story


I don't know I have been working in the office building that IBM wired with something they called BPL, and I feel funny.
1. A reporter with a looming deadline is desperate for a story
2. He knows somebody at IBM
3. That person at IBM will feed this journalistic Bozo anything he wants to hear.
4. Doesn't tell the reporter the real reason for the interest in BPL which is to feed IBM stock holders a line of total Bull Sh*t these stockholders would be pissed if IBM didn't at least try to belly up to the Washington pork barrel.
5. The reporter works for a newspaper who is looking to lay off a bunch of people, or could be even be going out of business, feels much better having made his deadline. Never mind the story is a total line of horse sh*t.
6. The unknown person at IBM smiles knowing he has got away yet again with a prime piece of Bovine Scatology.
7. Everyone is happy.

The bottom line is IBM is not interested in any thing like this it is too small, and IBM does not want to deal with the public, only business customers. So what ever interest IBM has in this technology has nothing to do with the myth of BPL for the rural masses.

The real interest IBM has and that is SmartGrid appilcations. This is an area that would be large enough to interest IBM. --

I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man's reasoning powers are not above the monkey's.
- Mark Twain in Eruption
moonpuppy

join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD

I hope this eats up a ton of stimilus money

Because when it fails, I will be laughing at the idiots that thought this could work.

How many years has BPL been the "new 3rd pipe?"

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

Re: I hope this eats up a ton of stimilus money

said by moonpuppy:

Because when it fails, I will be laughing at the idiots that thought this could work.
Of course we'll never get to that point because we'll be told it just needs more funding. Kinda like Amtrak, GM, Chrysler, Bank of America ...
--
Blagojevich / Madoff 2012!

BPLhell

@blutmagie.de

Stiff prices...

Even if it worked as *hyped* without question, the current prices of IBEC are high and IMHO would only work where there are no other lower priced alternatives.

256 kbps BPL Home $29.95
1 mbps BPL Home $49.95
3 mbps BPL Home $89.95


BucknRusty

join:2006-08-18
Liberty Hill, TX
Reviews:
·RoadRunner Cable

1 edit

Re: Stiff prices...

said by BPLhell :

Even if it worked as *hyped* without question, the current prices of IBEC are high and IMHO would only work where there are no other lower priced alternatives.

256 kbps BPL Home $29.95
1 mbps BPL Home $49.95
3 mbps BPL Home $89.95

There's always Hughesnet. LOLLOLLOL

en102
Canadian, eh?

join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

Re: Stiff prices...

If BPL worked as good as my Netgear HDX101 (ethernet over powerline) then it would be good.
Line connection typically runs +120Mbps across the house - and has been doing so for ~3 years now.

fifty nine

join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ
kudos:1

Re: Stiff prices...

You're not going to see those kinds of speeds on BPL.
nasadude

join:2001-10-05
Rockville, MD

harder to kill than talk of "exaflood"

which is finally going to disappear first:

BPL or FUD about the "exaflood"

powerhog
Stinkin' up the joint
Premium
join:2000-12-14
Owasso, OK

BPL is just the smoke

I suspect IBM's real interest in this technology is to support their "smart grid" projects. Might as well get the US Taxpayer to fund the research under the guise of 'broadband'.

IntheMountains

@srvs.usps.gov

WTH they always try the easy stuff

I see they are trying in VA, MI, AL and ID. When will anyone every try in the Mountains of WV????

Anything has to be better then Satellite.

fifty nine

join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ
kudos:1

Re: WTH they always try the easy stuff

Once again, rural America is used like a piece of toilet paper.

Sir Meowmix III

@205.255.240.x

BPL? More like QRM.

ARRL pretty much proved BPL is craptastic and regardless of what you think about Part 97 rules, BPL creates harmful interference to a large swath of HF.

There's more to HF than just Amateur Radio that can be impacted.

KC9OYY

@sbcglobal.net

Re: BPL? More like QRM.

Thankfully we do not have BPL around here in Wisconsin, yet.
The bands are bad enough already, certainly do not need more qrm from BPL...

73 de KC9OYY

Fox McCloud
Crazy like a fox.

join:2006-07-23

IMHO....

BPL, at the end of the day, will be relegated to use by only the electric companies to read meters remotely and to exchange information between substations, power plants, and other electrical nodes.

I just...well, really can't see it working out.
watice

join:2008-11-01
New York, NY

Money

"IBM has been making the rounds of late to suggest they should be one of the prime beneficiaries of any new funds"

LOL @ IBM positioning themselves for some of that broadband stimulus money. Good for them.

DrStrange
Technically feasible
Premium
join:2001-07-23
West Hartford, CT
kudos:1

Gods, BPL came back to life AGAIN?

Break out the wooden stakes and the garlic cloves, and put in a call to Buffy.

I'll be glad when it finally stays dead.
Anonimuz

join:2008-12-08
canada

Re: Gods, BPL came back to life AGAIN?

No kidding, put it to rest, I think Tisp has a better chance.

»www.google.com/tisp/

Monday, 04-Jun 22:10:21 Terms of Use & Privacy | feedback | contact | Hosting by nac.net - DSL,Hosting & Co-lo
over 12.5 years online © 1999-2012 dslreports.com.