Firms to Offer British Net Access Through Power Lines
Canadian firm Northern Telecom Ltd. and United Utilities, a British power company, on Wednesday said they plan to provide high-speed Internet access to British homes through power lines.
The companies said the new technology would provide data at almost 10 times the speed of the fastest connections currently available to home users. The new rate would be about 1 megabit per second, enough to transmit a small novel in a blink.
Peter Dudley, vice president of public network operations for Northern Telecom, said a small box, called a “tap,” attached to the meter would separate the data signal from the electricity. From there, a cable, without current, would run to a special card inside users’ personal computers.
The tap could be used to meter the data flow and bill based on the amount of data passing through, but he said that most customers had said they wanted a flat-rate pricing plan between $32 to $48 a month. The computer card would cost about $243 to $324.
The companies plan a test of the technology in about 200 homes in Manchester, England, in the spring. When the tests are completed, Dudley said, the technology will be offered commercially. There are no plans to market the technology in the United States, he said. The companies will instead focus on Europe and Asia.
The high speed also would allow voice communications, but Dudley said the partners are focusing on Internet access for now.
John Castagna, a spokesman for Edison Electric Institute in Washington, said many power utilities in the U.S. already use their wires to handle data, mostly to read electric meters. He added that every electric utility of significant size has a fairly sophisticated internal telecommunications network.
“What it means is that before their eyes, electric utilities may suddenly become the largest providers of telecommunications in the world,” he said. “It means telephone lines are obsolete.”
Dudley said existing telecommunications companies, such AT&T; WorldNet and MCI Internet had nothing to worry about.
“I think this is the biggest opportunity they’ve ever seen, because they don’t have access” to high-speed lines directly to the home, he said.
A representative from AT&T; WorldNet said the company was watching the experiment.
“Obviously, it’s a different mode of access than we’re providing,” spokesman Mike Miller said. “But the whole Internet area is ripe with innovation. We’re not surprised.”
