Broadband over power lines gets boost from IBM

IBM is throwing its considerable weight behind an idea that seemed to have faded: broadband Internet access delivered over ordinary power lines. The technology has been around for decades, but most efforts to implement the idea on a broad scale have failed to live up to expectations. Now, with somewhat scaled-back goals, improved technology, and a dose of low-interest federal loans, IBM is partnering with a small newcomer called International Broadband Electric Communications Inc. to try to make the idea work in rural communities that don't have other broadband options. Their strategy is to sign up electric cooperatives that provide power to sparsely populated areas across the eastern United States. Rather than compete toe-to-toe with large, entrenched cable or DSL providers, International Broadband is looking for customers that have been largely left out of the shift to high-speed Internet.

Geoff Daily raises some concerns:

1) there's been no mention of what speeds will ultimately be offered,

2) $30/month seems a little expensive, and

3) at best BPL is nothing more than a stopgap technology to be used only until something better can be put into place.

Daily says the most exciting potential for BPL is in-home networking: imagine a day when all your appliances are smart, but rather than everything having to have Ethernet ports or wireless cards built in to connect to the Internet instead all you had to do is plug in the power cord and get connected via BPL.