San Francisco, CA and London, UK; 10 November 2005: Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) is emerging as a new challenger to the dominance of DSL and cable for broadband internet access. BPL has been in development for the past ten years and is now starting to gain global market traction.
That is the finding from a new study, “Broadband over Power Lines: Challenging existing broadband dynamics”, published by industry research company, visiongain.
Also known as the “third wire” for delivering broadband communications to users, more than 100 trials in 40 different countries worldwide since 2001 have confirmed the viability of BPL technology. The main commercial BPL networks in the EU are found in Germany, Australia and Spain. There are also numerous trials and pilot projects currently underway in the US, where at least 10,000 users subscribe to commercial services.
“One of the advantages offered by BPL is that the technology will help stimulate new competitive market dynamics by introducing a new means of broadband access that does not require the building of an entirely new infrastructure,” says report author Sherman Fridman. “The very real and the very over-dramatised questions of BPL-caused RF interference have recently begun to be answered satisfactorily,” he noted.
BPL has been hampered by concerns over interference and the lack of standards necessary to drive it forward. But recent developments point to these problems being resolved, which, along with the upcoming next-generation BPL products, will make BPL a viable alternative to DSL and cable.
The ubiquity of electric power lines as the means of providing access to the Internet is of particular benefit in rural areas, where the biggest promise lies for BPL. But visiongain warns that unless governments are willing to subsidise the substantial infrastructure costs required to enable a BPL system, the technology of providing broadband access over power lines may not be economically viable in these areas.
In urban areas, BPL’s timing is critical, because it must compete in a very competitive marketplace, one in which legacy players have not only established a firm foothold, but are beginning to offer triple-play services, giving them differentiation and a competitive advantage.
This latest report from visiongain, “Broadband over Power line: Challenging existing broadband dynamics”, examines BPL both as a stand-alone technology and as a competitive entry into the broadband marketplace. It analyses the issues surrounding BPL and profiles the main players and trials happening in this space.
About visiongain
Visiongain is one of the fastest growing and most innovative independent media companies in Europe. Based in London, UK, visiongain produces a host of business-2-business conferences, newsletters, management reports and e-zines focusing on the Telecoms, Pharmaceutical and Defence sectors.
Visiongain publishes reports produced by its in-house analysts, who are qualified experts in their field. Visiongain has firmly established itself as the first port-of-call for the business professional, who needs independent, high quality, original material to rely and depend on.
For more information on visiongain, please visit the website: www.visiongain.com or www.visiongainintelligence.com”
Link: visiongain.com
