Provincial Electricity Authority of Thailand and ECB Deploy Corinex Communications Powerline Solution

Provincial Electricity Authority of Thailand and ECB Deploy Corinex Communications Powerline Solution
04.16.07, 6:02 AM ET

The Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) of Thailand has completed the first phase of its province-wide Internet and VoIP over Powerlines deployment, passing selected homes and offices. E-Commerce Business (ECB), the local integration partner specializing in Broadband over Powerline (BPL) technology and project management, chose Corinex Communications Medium and Low Voltage Powerline equipment to form the communications backbone for the PEA Internet service.

Phase 1 of the PEA project delivered broadband service to commercial customers in Pathum Thani, a province with a population of 1.5 million, in addition to providing residential broadband service to a rural area 2 km away. The service delivers over 25 Mbps over the Medium and Low Voltage lines and has been running steady for over 2 months. The phase 2 expansion of the project, which will pass over government offices, residential homes, and commercial offices will begin in late spring and will add Smart Grid applications such as ECB's Automatic Meter Reading solution to the Corinex network.

"We have conducted the Trial Project with ECB who teamed up with Corinex to deliver the Internet backbone as they demonstrated the capabilities in advanced Powerline technology," stated Jirasak Tongtar, PEA Director of ICT Business Development. "Now that we have seen the pilot project deliver an effective and stable network, we plan to implement this technology on our power grids for our class 3 license telecommunication services."

On March 26, 2007, PEA became one of very few companies in Asia that have been granted a license from the Thailand regulator to operate full telecommunication services. PEA has received Class 3 Telecom License from National Telecommunication (NTC) who regulate all telecommunication activities in Thailand. PEA plans to offer BPL services including Internet service, VoIP, and content through its 16,000 Kilometer power grid across the country in 73 Provinces, with a combined population of over 50 million people, as early as this year.

"ECB has invested significant resources to develop the expertise necessary to deploy large scale Powerline networks on MV and LV lines, the trend in Powerline is coming to Asia, and in Thailand we have positioned ECB for this exciting opportunity and we are now ready to team up with partners or investors," said Pattanapong Chanhom, V.P. Business Development, ECB. "We are ecstatic with the cooperation from PEA and the support and performance from Corinex and Corinex Powerline networks."

"ECB and PEA are leading Asia with their advanced network and aggressive deployment plans for Powerline technology," said Brian Donnelly, Corinex Communications VP of Marketing and Business Development. "ECB, a Corinex Competency Center in Bangkok, Thailand, has demonstrated that with careful planning and support, Broadband over Powerline networks are feasible and can deliver a strong ROI."