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Powerline Telecom: Old Wires Breed New Possibilities - Technology Information

Telecommunications, Sept, 2000 by Sean Buckley

NEWPORT BEACH

Calif.--Someday connecting to the Internet may be just as easy as plugging into the same wall outlet that serves your stereo. Powerline telecom uses existing electric lines to transmit broadband communications in home networking environments and as an alternative access technology to deliver telecom services to homes and businesses.

To further the advancement of powerline telecom technology, two industry forums are developing new technologies and standards for home networking and access. These include the PLC (Powerline Communications) Forum, a combination of the PTF (Powerline Telecom Forum) and the IPCF (International Powerline Communications Forum), and the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, a group formed to develop home networking technologies based on powerline telecom.

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Led by Alberto Mantovani, division director for strategic programs at Conexant Systems, the HomePlug Powerline Alliance has 38 members, including 3Com, Texas Instruments and Cisco Systems, which provided the testing facility for conducting lab trials to determine a baseline technology. HomePlug argues that the advantage powerline home networking technology has is ubiquity: Where there may be two or three phone lines in a house, there are at least two to three power outlets in every room.

When it was formed in March 2000, the alliance identified four main home networking markets, including PC networking, gaming, voice telephony and consumer electronics. At the conclusion of its technology bake-off, which consisted of lab trials and tests inside a number of homes that were five to 30 years old, HomePlug chose Intellon's PowerPacket technology as its baseline. When finalized, the initial HomePlug specification will provide a 10-Mbps powerline networking standard.

Much of the development in powerline technology as an access medium has been in Europe. Enikia, a powerline telecom developer for both home and access networks, has partnered with Oneline, an affiliate of German utility companies Veba and Pruessen Elektra. Oneline, which is working toward field trials in Germany plans to deliver voice, data and security service packages into residential homes over the utility's power grids.

Although U.S. utility companies have expressed interest in the technology, two issues have prevented it from taking off: the number of homes connected to a transformer and the proliferation of other access technologies such as DSL and cable modem. In Europe 300 to 400 homes are connected to a single power transformer, while in the United States only five or six are connected to one transformer.

Todd Green, director of product marketing for man, argues that from an economic standpoint, a lot less work goes into installing the equipment for higher bandwidth for home service in Europe vs. the United States. "There is a low communications media going to the transformer, which is why the focus has been on access in Europe," Green said. "Europe also has been slower to deliver DSL and cable access technologies."

Markus Riegel, director of group projects for powerline telecom at Siemens, agrees. "Since more than 60 percent to 65 percent of American households are passed by a packet cable TV network, it's economically more feasible to use a cable modem for high-speed broadband access," Riegel said.

Although it may look like the lines between home networking and access are clearly drawn, both sides have expressed interest in bridging home networks using powerline telecom with the access side. "We are talking to powerline communications companies focused on the access market," Mantovani said. "HomePlug is probably in the lead because we have already decided what technology we want to use, while the PLC Forum is still deciding on technology. I believe utility companies will begin providing Internet access through their own power grids initially in Europe and later in America."

Jarek Chylinski of Enikia claims that the only way this technology will make a dent in the market will be through cooperation between the home networking and access players. "We are advocating close cooperation in all the different forums we participate in," Chylinski said.

Despite the positives, some question whether the regulatory and economic problems that have plagued other powerline telecom access networks will hinder new developments. Three years ago, Nortel Networks, which was one of power-line's staunchest supporters, conducted a trial for Internet access with Britian's United Utilities called Nor.Web. Although a trial in Manchester, England, proved that the transmissions worked, nearby lamp posts were acting as antennae, picking up users' downloads and rebroadcasting the data as radio waves. After it deemed that powerline transmission was economically unfeasible, Nortel canned the project at the end of 1999. As a result, none of Nor. Web's original partners are pursuing a powerline communications strategy.

Michael R. Tennefoss, vice president of product marketing and customer services for Echelon, a company that makes home control devices, argues that while powerline communications may be good for some things, it may not be good for others. "When you look at the different powerline technologies by either Enikia or Intellon there's a big question mark whether the regulations will change to permit them to run, or permit them to run reliably enough for high-speed data and voice applications," Tennefoss said. "These applications would need to operate in the 5-MHz to 40-MHz band, a band slated for a slew of other applications. At this point it's not clear whether the regulations can be changed to permit legal operation of these high-speed, high-frequency devices."

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Powerline Telecom: Old Wires Breed New Possibilities - Technology Information

Telecommunications, Sept, 2000 by Sean Buckley

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