Google Buys Into Broadband Over Powerlines

from the good-luck-with-that dept

Thu, Jul 7th 2005 10:26am — Mike Masnick

While almost every broadband over powerlines trial we've heard about has ended (often early) without plans to take it any further, there are still some believers in the technology. The one big "success" story in the space has been in the midwest (mainly Ohio) with Current Communications Group, provided by Cinergy. It looks like that initial success has attracted a bunch of investors including Google. It seems like an odd investment, but the simple guess is that Google is trying to encourage more broadband usage however possible, on the theory that more broadband means more internet usage, and more internet usage means more Google ads. Still, it seems like wireless technologies have a lot more potential than broadband over powerlines -- which has such a history of trouble (and utility companies, who aren't known for being particularly nimble about this kind of thing).

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Anonymous of Course, 7 Jul 2005 @ 12:29pm

BPL BS
Bah! I live out in the middle of nowhere and there's fiber at the curb. It's not hooked up because the CO hasn't been upgraded. They're putting more fiber in the ground all the time and much more than half of it isn't used. Someday I'll have broadband access at home and it'll be fiber at the curb... and I'm the type of customer that the FCC and utilities people say BPL will help- nonsense. BPL is only practical over short distances in high population density areas, beyond that it radiates excessively. Within those areas the "EMI temperature" is already terribly high so it's no big thing I guess. Also the cost of bridges and repeaters makes rural service by BPL a fantasy. Give me NLOS or Fiber but quit with the BPL already. The only people that will derive any major benefit from it are those seeking investment capital and selling stock. Can you say pump and dump? I knew you could!
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