Fresh Off Muni WiFi Astroturf, How About A BPL Astroturf?

from the I've-heard-of-these-guys-before... dept

Thu, Feb 24th 2005 5:50pm — Mike Masnick

Remember the New Millennium Research Council? Those were the guys who came out with a paid-in-full report trashing muni broadband without revealing who was paying for such a report. The report even opened by taking a quote from a Techdirt analyst completely out of context. Broadband Reports has noticed that the folks at NMRC are back with a new report, this time hyping up the wonders of broadband over powerlines (BPL), despite the fact that nearly every BPL trial has ended in failure. This is a technology that has been hyped up for years (I remember in 1997 being told that it was "just around the corner) -- and yet still hasn't made the slightest dent. Of course, if the same folks who paid for the anti-muni astroturf are looking to show that there's "real competition" in the broadband space, a story about the rise of BPL might be convenient, right?

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Trish Butler, 24 Feb 2005 @ 5:50pm

BPL report
You should read the NMRC report, which is actually quite balanced. It cites both pros and cons -- progress and obstacles -- facing broadband over powerline. Also, if you listen to the streaming audio from the news event, you will notice that one of the speakers is openly skeptical about potential for BPL.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Feb 2005 @ 12:03am

counterexample.
http://www.developer.net.au/news/news+for+thought/canada's+first+broadband+over+power+lines.asp
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Mike (profile), 25 Feb 2005 @ 1:17am

Re: counterexample.
That's not a counter example. That's another trial. There are lots of trials. Let's wait and see if it goes to commercial release, and then how many people actually use it -- and what they think of it.
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