Indeed having personnally been involved in various pioneering projects in order to fight the Digital Divide in European countries, we can confirm that in Europe as well PLC/BPL is seen as a major technology to bridge the Digital Divide and enable the offering of broadband in an equal way thorughout the country.
Specific projects can be viewed on the website of the regional authorities of Departement de la Manche , Regie du Pays Chartrain, Irish governement DCMNR, but also on the German city of Ha?furt, Hameln..., or the powerline telecommunications forum www.ptf.de BR Nadine Berezak-Lazarus Managing Director bmp Telecommunications Consultants GmbH ------------------------------------------------------------------------ bmp TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANTS GmbH Achillesstr.17 40545 Dusseldorf Germany Tel: +49 211 577973-0 Fax: +49 211 577973-11 www.bmp-tc.com e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- -----Ursprungliche Nachricht----- Von: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Auftrag von Anthony Wilhelm Gesendet: Montag, 25. Oktober 2004 20:22 An: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Betreff: Re: [DDN] Utilities take pass on offering broadband This seems like an unduly pessimistic depiction of a technology that is poised for broader deployment, especially in smaller communities where public utilities have much of the infrastructure and expertise in place to deploy BPL service. I know of several very promising pilot projects in Manassas, Va., and Weimer, Texas. BPL is good for utilities because it allows utilities to read meters and shut off power remotely. BPL solutions can also create sensor networks to enhance homeland security. So the glass is more than half empty, despite the Boston Globe's contentions. BPL is poised to become another entrant into the broadband market to address the digital divide in small communities, ones where other commercial providers may be slow to deploy. The Technology Opportunities Program earlier in the month announced a grant to Nemours, a children's clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., to partner with JEA (formally Jacksonville Electric Authority) to test the functionality of BPL technology for delivering remote home pediatric health monitoring to children with asthma in the underserved Springfield community of the city. We think this technology, and the applications it will generate, hold great promise. So let's see how the pilot projects, and the deployment in small towns, fare before we take the wind out of the sail of these promising developments. Anthony G. Wilhelm, Ph.D. Director, Technology Opportunities Program National Telecommunications and Information Administration U.S. Department of Commerce 1401 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Room 4893 Washington, D.C. 20230 (202) 482-1216 fax: (202) 501-5136 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.ntia.doc.gov/top/ >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 10/25/04 10:52AM >>> From the Boston Globe... -ac Utilities take pass on offering broadband The nation's top telecommunications regulators are convinced that electric-power lines are finally ready to become a revolutionary new way for Americans to get high-speed Internet access, unleashing competition for cable and phone giants. But the utility companies that would actually deploy the services remain overwhelmingly skeptical. Of the nearly 160 investor-owned utilities in the United States, dozens have tried out ''broadband over power line" systems. Only one -- Cinergy Corp. in Cincinnati -- has moved ahead with a significant commercial rollout, so far attracting barely 1,500 subscribers. Dozens of utilities that ran trials of the service in the last three years took a pass on making a business venture of it. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2004/10/25/utilities_take _pass_on_offering_broadband/ -- ----------------------------------- Andy Carvin Program Director EDC Center for Media & Community acarvin @ edc . org http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org Blog: http://www.andycarvin.com ----------------------------------- _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
