Power line broadband pushed by Europe

The European Commission has urged greater testing and deployment of power line broadband to bring high speed connectivity to more homes and small businesses.

In what is seen as a positive move for rural areas, the European Commission has recommended that national telecommunications and utilities regulators dismantle any unjustified regulatory obstacles to help open up the market for broadband delivery via the electricity power grid.

Echoing recent developments in the US by the Federal Communications Commission, the European Commission argues that power line communications should enjoy a level playing field and not be penalised by having more stringent radio interference standards than other options. Perceived concerns over interference with existing radio transmissions should not be used to block utility companies offering their grid network to broadband service providers, say the Commission. Advances in power line technology meant there were far fewer problems than before and any outstanding issues were easy to overcome.

Power line communications could potentially increase broadband penetration in the 25 member states by up to 10 percent, particularly in rural areas, the Commission estimate.

Currently there are very few commercial networks in operation. However, HIE did work alongside Scottish Enterprise to take part in an 18 month trial – the first of its kind in Scotland - with SSE Telecom . Campbeltown and Crieff were selected for the trial, with over a hundred triallists taking part in testing broadband delivered via power sockets through the user’s existing electricity mains.

The technology under test was a mix of satellite and ‘wire’. A 2Mbit/s satellite link acted as the hub, with delivery to the end user being via Hydro Electric’s network of sub-stations.

Results from the power line broadband trials were encouraging with several users reporting symmetric upload and download speeds of between 500Kbps and 1Mbps while one of the Crieff triallists reported a symmetric service in excess of 1.6Mbps.

However, the trials have not yet led to power line broadband being offered commercially in the Highlands and Islands.

Among the advantages of power line broadband are:

• no need for a dedicated phone line
• no connection fee
• broadband from every room with a power socket
• no extra cables to connect your computer.

For remote rural areas outwith the present exchange-based broadband roll out, power line broadband could yet prove to be an alternative to satellite broadband. So long as the end user is supplied electricity from a ground main sub-station, they are virtually assured a service because of the limited number of customers served.

Previous power line broadband trials in the UK were dogged by radio interference produced by the cables. The latest generation of power line communications has made significant advances since then.

New generation power line communications trials are now underway in Germany, Spain, France and Italy holding out hope that the present 60 or so power line broadband networks serving thousands of paying customers will be added to in the not too distant future.