Literally Plug Into The Internet

[jeffrey]

Electric companies may soon join the fray of providing Internet services after regulators cleared the way for utility companies to offer broadband services through electrical outlets.

"Today is a banner day, and I think years from now we will look back and see it as a historical day for us," said Michael Powell, chairman of the FCC, the New York Times reported. "This is groundbreaking stuff."

To promote wider broadband access, on Friday the Federal Communications Commission changed its rules to encourage the development of a new technology that provides access to high speed broadband services using the nation's power grid, called access broadband over power line (BPL) systems, the agency said in a statement.

Access BPL uses a modem that plugs into electrical outlets, and so far the Web access runs at 1 to 3 megabits per second, comparable to other current broadband offerings, the Times said.

"This new technology holds great promise as a low-cost broadband competitor. The pervasiveness of the utility grid means that almost every home in America can be accessed by this type of service," Powell and FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy said in a statement...

One trial of the new service has begun in Cincinnati under a joint venture between Current Communications and Cinergy (Research), the local utility. The service offers the access at $29.95 to $49.95 a month, depending on the speed, the Times reported... [read more at money.cnn.com]