BROADBAND OVER POWER LINES

There are several reasons that explain why broadband-over-power-line technology still has not passed the testing phase, even though the idea has been around for some time now. The major technical reason most relevant to the scope of this paper, however, is largely the issue of interference with existing communication technology, namely radios.

According to the National Association of Amateur Radio, the problem is that power lines do not insulate radio frequencies and therefore cannot prevent ‘leaks.' Unlike electric current passing through power lines, BPL signal frequencies are not standardized. Modulating a BPL signal below 100 MHz onto power lines has the potential of transforming carrier power lines into long, ubiquitous radio antennas that distort legitimate radio signals. Besides amateur radio operators, those at risk include many groups who rely on low- to medium-frequency bands, including first responders, the federal government, and ships [2].

Indeed, it has often been the case that technologies, among other things, have many unforeseen and unintended consequences which can do more harm than good. Government attempts at standardizing BPL signals have had mixed results. Though it has been a persistent issue, because BPL is still so limited, it is still not high on the FCC's agenda.

Conclusion

Like the high-speed Internet technologies before it, broadband-over-power-line is an example of a relatively simple idea—piggybacking a signal onto something almost everyone has access to—that has the potential to reshape the entire America n landscape. It has only been a few years into the ‘broadband explosion,' and already we have seen a fundamental shift in the way America ns access their information.

Taking a bigger worldview, however, it has become clear that the United St ates has begun lagging behind other nations in developing a national broadband plan to meet future information technology needs. In the area of BPL, the U.S. is already behind the European Union in deployment. If the potential of the Internet has always been to democratize knowledge and make it readily available to the masses, one could argue that BPL not only has the opportunity to do so, but perhaps also the imperative.

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