Gas-line broadband a pipe dream?

GAS-LINE BROADBAND A PIPE DREAM?
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Paul Davidson]
So intense is the drive to deliver high-speed Internet service to American homes that entrepreneurs have seemingly tapped every conceivable pathway: fiber-optic cable, the air, even power lines. Now the relentless pursuit for faster, cheaper broadband is leading to perhaps the last unclaimed conduit to your house: natural gas pipes. Nethercomm, a San Diego-area start-up, says it has developed technology to send lightning-fast broadband and TV services via wireless signals through the pipes that deliver the fuel used to heat homes and fire up stoves. Gas pipes serve 62% of U.S. households, says the American Gas Association. Broadband in Gas, or BIG, could give consumers a third high-speed option at low costs and speeds that far surpass today's phone and cable offerings. It also could bring fast Internet to unserved rural areas. But, so far, the idea has been met with both excitement and skepticism. “It's been a Coke and Pepsi (battle) between cable and phone companies,” says Nethercomm founder and CEO Patrick Nunally, 42, a veteran high-tech entrepreneur. “We're in a position to come in and provide real competition.” More important, Nunally says, the pipes could be used by pay-TV providers to compete with cable and satellite. In fact, he says, Nethercomm and local gas companies would lease the wireless spectrum to any provider for myriad services: cable giants seeking extra bandwidth for their high-definition TV channels, phone companies looking to pare their multibillion-dollar investments in fiber-optic cable, even businesses such as medical providers with high-bandwidth needs. Gas companies, besides earning revenue from leasing their pipes, could use the broadband service to remotely monitor the integrity of their lines and read gas meters.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20060911/broadbandgas11.art.htm