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May 1, 2005
Quality Of Service Is Key to Success Of Broadband Over Power Lines, Public Power Magazine, May-June 2005
| For More Information |
Tim Blodgett
Hometown Connections
tblodgett@hometownconnections.com
303-526-4515
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BPL from Main.net
“I’ve been an IT professional for 17 years and I’ve heard it all. Rarely does equipment work as well as the vendors claim. But the equipment from Main.net actually worked better than promised and surpassed my expectations,” said Randy Parsons, information technology manager for Lebanon Utilities in Indiana. Lebanon Utilities is testing the broadband over power line (BPL) system from Main.net Power Line Communications, Inc. of Reston, Va.
Hometown Connections and Main.net have formed a strategic partnership enabling members of the American Public Power Association to deliver high-speed, broadband Internet services over electric power lines. The BPL system from Main.net uses the utility’s existing electric power lines to deliver high-speed data through an ordinary wall socket. Customers plug a modem into any electric outlet and access the Internet. Using a sophisticated modem technology to achieve high data rates over noisy low-voltage power lines, the Main.net application provides broadband Internet and outage management, plus the ability to add other applications in the future, such as automated meter reading and other types of telecommunications services, such as voice over Internet protocol.
According to Parsons, DSL service in Lebanon is limited, and the cable company’s Internet service is expensive. Lebanon Utilities considered offering a wireless Internet service. “We determined that a wireless system would be costly to install and offer ‘hit or miss’ service due to trees or other line-of-site obstructions,” said Parsons.
“We liked Main.net’s a la carte approach” to BPL, said Parsons. “Other vendors require the utility to agree up front to a full deployment. But Main.net is willing to let us ramp up slowly, with very little up-front investment,” Parsons said. “The Main.net system is easy to install and reliable to operate. We spend only minutes in the customer’s home installing a network termination unit into any wall socket, and then run a cable to the network interface connection on the PC. It’s so simple, the customer can do it without us.”
Quality of service is the most important issue with BPL, according to Matt Hancock, generation superintendent of Springville Power in Utah. Citizens can purchase faster DSL service from US West or high-speed Internet access from Comcast. “But for us, quality of service is more important than speed.” Springville has tested the first generation of Main.net equipment and will soon test the second generation. “We are very pleased so far with the Main.net system. The technology is robust and reliable,” Hancock said. Because legislation in Utah prohibits municipal utilities from offering Internet services directly, the city is searching for one or several Internet service providers willing to form a partnership.
Washington’s Chelan County Public Utility District is building a fiber-to-the-home system in parts of its coverage area and, in the town of Peshastin, is testing the Main.net BPL. “We are focusing our early fiber build-out on the more dense areas of the county and want to give end-users in rural areas an option for broadband while they wait for fiber to arrive,” said Networks Director John Smith. “The Main.net solution went in easily and worked without a flaw right out of the box. The customer satisfaction rating has been very high, and we hope to continue using Main.net for limited deployment in rural areas around the county.”
“Public power systems are forward thinking and they are the industry leaders in investigating and implementing new technology for their consumers,” said Main.net President and CEO Joseph Marsilii. “I predict that within five years virtually all of the public power systems will have evaluated or deployed BPL networks,” Marsilii said. “The opportunities are beyond simple communication service to consumers. What we see in our city of Manassas, Va., deployment is very exciting. The use of the Main.net communication network provides access anywhere, thereby providing opportunities for public safety, transportation and the electric company to improve the service they provide to the community.”
To help APPA members with telecom decisions, Hometown Connections partners with the consultants of Uptown Services. According to Uptown, BPL has been the catalyst for public power utilities to address internal operating opportunities such as automated meter reading, telemetry and other data-driven applications. As a network architecture, BPL can be a cost-effective platform to implement these operational improvements, with the added benefits of Internet access and telephone service.
“It’s critical to identify both the incremental revenue-generating potential as well as realistic operating cost benefits that BPL can afford,” said Dave Stockton, principal of Uptown Services. “With a solid business case, a utility board can then make the necessary funding decisions and determine the payback scenario.”
From Uptown Services—Issues to Consider When Evaluating BPL
*Is the utility's infrastructure well suited to BPL?
*What is the cost of deploying a BPL system on the existing electrical plant?
*What is the cost of providing the backbone to serve the BPL last mile network?
*What are the incremental staffing and support system requirements for the new operation?
*How would BPL improve the operation of the existing utility?
*How would BPL based offerings compete in the local broadband market?
*What is the appropriate business model (landlord, wholesale, retail or hybrid) for operating a BPL based network?
*What does the business case look like? New revenue and cost savings versus incremental expenses and capital expenditures?
See these Web sites for more information.
• Hometown Connections
• Main.net Powerline Communications
• Uptown Services
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