Just days before the Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to adopt rules allowing broadband over powerline, two federal regulatory chairmen, their staffs, and a dozen reporters traveled an hour west of the nation’s capital to view an operational BPL system.
This is really at the very front edge of this technology, and rather than complicate it with a lot of regulation, either on the communications or the energy side of the fence at either the state or federal level, let’s give it a chance to grow,” said Pat Wood III, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. “I think the states we have talked to are interested in seeing BPL out there as an additional option. The energy regulators tend to be the telecommunications regulators (at the state level), and they on behalf of their customers want to see more options.”
FCC Chairman Michael Powell, long a BPL cheerleader, took Wood around to the various sites and explained why BPL may indeed be another broadband option for America.
As a city-owned utility, Manassas, Va., has teamed with Communication Technologies Inc., to offer both residential and commercial BPL service. Since launching service earlier this year, ComTek has won 15 percent of the available customers.
While its residential and commercial service is wired using the electricity grid, ComTek has also installed a Wi-Fi hot spot at the commuter train station. That service is currently free to all users, but soon will be closed to BPL subscribers and one-day activations.
