The Manassas, VA broadband over powerline (BPL) network is dead. DSLReports cites the chief protagonist of the BPL drama the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) which won when on April 05, 2010, the Manassas City Council unanimously voted to pull the plug as of July 01, 2010.
Broadband over powerline was once praised as the third alternative to the telco’s and cableco’s stranglehold on the broadband market. Former FCC chief Michael Powell called the Manassas installation, “the pinnacle of broadband achievement” just five years ago. In the meantime increased broadband speeds and the unwillingness of utilities to become broadband providers doomed BPL.
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International Broadband Electric Communications (IBEC) to play on. They won’t have to deal with that pesky FCC or end-users since they can sell their broadband over powerline products to utilities as part of the U.S Department of Energy’s $3.3 billion smart grid technology development cash give-away grants.
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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
BPL has had difficulty gaining traction for several reasons. First, its relatively slow throughput in the face of next-generation speeds and its potential for interference with amateur and emergency radio. Finally, many utilities simply didn’t want to be broadband providers.