NEVIN JOHN
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 08, 2006 01:28:18 AM]
MUMBAI: This may be the final word on convergence technology. For the first time, electricity, internet and phone are being made available on a single line to the Indian consumer.
IBM Global is set to start a pilot project in India to launch its broadband over power line (BPL) system in December. IBM is in talks with state electricity boards and power utilities for the project implementation. Sources said the Uttar Pradesh government is keen to implement a pilot project in the rural areas.
By increasing the grid observability, the BPL system can deliver stable and quality electricity, apart from internet and telecom facilities, through the same line.
Gary A Cohen, general manager, global communications, IBM, confirmed that his company is launching a pilot project in India soon. IBM has introduced this technology in countries like Italy, Germany, Spain, Belgium and the US. Besides India, it is planning to introduce the technology in China too.
“Electric transmission and distribution utilities have come under increasing pressure to improve efficiency and generate new revenue. To change this situation, IBM is introducing a solution for the electrical power industry, which can take care of the telecommunications service also,” said Mr Cohen.
Advance meter management, asset monitoring and management and mobile work force management can be done with BPL. IBM’s global software building team is working with the energy & utilities division for the Indian project.
BPL will make the electricity network intelligent and minimise transmission and distribution loss. BPL will help avoid power theft and transformer problems.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
US Lags in All Measures of Broadband, FCC's Copps Says
By Glenn Fleishman
One of two Democrats on the FCC board, Copps says we’re laughably behind: Estonia, a forward-thinking country, beats us in the “digital opportunity” index at position 20, and we’re 15th worldwide in overall broadband penetration. Copps nails one of the ways in which the FCC avoids facing reality: “The FCC still defines broadband as 200 kilobits per second, assumes that if one person in a Zip code area has access to broadband then everyone does and fails to gather any data on pricing.” I’ve complained about this before in the debate over whether municipalities have any role in owning, fostering, or discouraging city-wide networks. Opponents to certain forms of municipal involvement will say things like DSL penetration in the US is over 95 percent. But they’re using the one-line-per-Zip-code measure.
He issues a call to arms, which might stick with the shift in control of the House and apparently Senate: “We must start meeting our legislative mandate to get advanced telecommunications out to all Americans at reasonable prices; make new licensed and unlicensed spectrum available; authorize “smart radios” that use spectrum more efficiently; and do a better job of encouraging “third pipe” technologies such as wireless and broadband over power lines.”
One of two Democrats on the FCC board, Copps says we’re laughably behind: Estonia, a forward-thinking country, beats us in the “digital opportunity” index at position 20, and we’re 15th worldwide in overall broadband penetration. Copps nails one of the ways in which the FCC avoids facing reality: “The FCC still defines broadband as 200 kilobits per second, assumes that if one person in a Zip code area has access to broadband then everyone does and fails to gather any data on pricing.” I’ve complained about this before in the debate over whether municipalities have any role in owning, fostering, or discouraging city-wide networks. Opponents to certain forms of municipal involvement will say things like DSL penetration in the US is over 95 percent. But they’re using the one-line-per-Zip-code measure.
He issues a call to arms, which might stick with the shift in control of the House and apparently Senate: “We must start meeting our legislative mandate to get advanced telecommunications out to all Americans at reasonable prices; make new licensed and unlicensed spectrum available; authorize “smart radios” that use spectrum more efficiently; and do a better job of encouraging “third pipe” technologies such as wireless and broadband over power lines.”
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
DS2 to supply the Japanese market with HDTV-quality high speed Power Line Communication chips !!!
Leading silicon supplier will meet the new regulatory limits and measurement methods set for High-Speed Power Line Communications.
Tokyo, 07, November, 2006 – DS2 today announced that it is to serve the domestic Japanese market with silicon that meets the EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) requirements for PLC applications recently approved by the Japanese Government. DS2 is the leading provider of high speed silicon for Powerline communications (PLC) applications, including triple play home networking, currently sold to service providers and into retail stores through leading modem manufacturers worldwide,. The new Japanese regulation is more stringent than similar regulations in force in Europe and the US. The permitted signal level in the 2 Mhz to 15 MHz range is 5 times smaller in Japan and in the 15 to 30 MHz range it is 16 time smaller. These new EMC requirements will put some PLC silicon suppliers in a difficult position. To meet these requirements they will have to reduce throughput to such levels that they will be unable to deliver video.
Ramon Garcia, Director of DS2´s Asian office in Tokyo, states that “DS2 will be able to guarantee a level of throughput that will deliver HDTV while meeting the new requirements. Designed with multimedia in mind from the start, and having unique features such as programmable notch filtering, DS2 has vast overseas experience. Recent developments to meet the Japanese domestic market requirements have proved that DS2 Silicon will be able to clear the stringent limits while maintaining high speeds”.
Telecommunication operators in Hong Kong, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Portugal and other overseas markets have compared and selected DS2 technology for their triple play commercial services due to its unqiue features such as high throughput, QoS, remote manageability, repeating function and wide area coverage. Modem manufacturers including Comtrend, Corinex, Netgear, Pirelli, Telsey and others using DS2 technology have succeeded in all continents and have been the first to develop and sell product for multimedia home networking in retail stores.
About DS2
DS2 (www.ds2.es) is the world's leading supplier of the 200 Mbps technology that enables home networking and broadband access over power line, coaxial cable, and telephone wire. DS2 pioneered the industry with the introduction of its 200 Mbps chipsets, creating the fastest and highest performance solution for simultaneous data, digital audio and high-definition video transmission. Two pre-eminent industry groups, the Universal Powerline Association -www.upaplc.org - (UPA) and the European Union consortium OPERA (Open PLC European Research Alliance) have adopted DS2 technology in support of multi-vendor standard certified product. .
Smart Grid Attracts Test & Measurement Supplier for Developing Technology to Bring More Reliable Delivery of Electricity and Broadband Over PowerLines
Wednesday November 8, 8:43 am ET
PITTSBURGH, Nov. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- BPL Global(TM), Ltd., an international leader in "Smart Grid" technologies and broadband services over power lines (BPL), announced today that Tollgrade Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: TLGD - News) has joined in the Series C investment round for BPL Global. This investment is part of the Series C funding BPL Global announced in late September, totaling $25M and led by a consortium of Kuwaiti-based companies including Al-Deera Holding (KSE: ALDEERA), International Financial Advisors (KSE: IFA), Kuwait Holding Company, and International Finance Company (KSE: IFC). A minor investor in the round, Tollgrade Communications is a leading supplier of network service assurance products for the global cable and telecom industries.
Improving reliability of electricity through smart grid technologies and managing the quality of broadband communications over power lines are attractive emerging markets. Given our presence in the service assurance marketplace for cable and telephone companies, this investment makes great sense for Tollgrade," said Mark B. Peterson, President and Chief Executive Officer for Tollgrade Communications.
"As a global leader in network test and measurement products, Tollgrade Communications is a much-welcomed new strategic investor in BPL Global," said Keith Schaefer, Chief Executive Officer, BPL Global.
BPL Global forms joint ventures with utilities and Internet service providers (ISPs), providing data, voice and eventually video broadband services over power lines to multi-occupancy buildings and consumers, while ensuring heightened reliability and efficiency of utility grids through Smart Grid initiatives. Smart Grid applications include demand and load management; outage management; grid monitoring and device control; as well as energy theft prevention.
Source: BPL Global.net
PITTSBURGH, Nov. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- BPL Global(TM), Ltd., an international leader in "Smart Grid" technologies and broadband services over power lines (BPL), announced today that Tollgrade Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: TLGD - News) has joined in the Series C investment round for BPL Global. This investment is part of the Series C funding BPL Global announced in late September, totaling $25M and led by a consortium of Kuwaiti-based companies including Al-Deera Holding (KSE: ALDEERA), International Financial Advisors (KSE: IFA), Kuwait Holding Company, and International Finance Company (KSE: IFC). A minor investor in the round, Tollgrade Communications is a leading supplier of network service assurance products for the global cable and telecom industries.
Improving reliability of electricity through smart grid technologies and managing the quality of broadband communications over power lines are attractive emerging markets. Given our presence in the service assurance marketplace for cable and telephone companies, this investment makes great sense for Tollgrade," said Mark B. Peterson, President and Chief Executive Officer for Tollgrade Communications.
"As a global leader in network test and measurement products, Tollgrade Communications is a much-welcomed new strategic investor in BPL Global," said Keith Schaefer, Chief Executive Officer, BPL Global.
BPL Global forms joint ventures with utilities and Internet service providers (ISPs), providing data, voice and eventually video broadband services over power lines to multi-occupancy buildings and consumers, while ensuring heightened reliability and efficiency of utility grids through Smart Grid initiatives. Smart Grid applications include demand and load management; outage management; grid monitoring and device control; as well as energy theft prevention.
Source: BPL Global.net
America's Internet Disconnect
By Michael J. Copps
Wednesday, November 8, 2006; Page A27
America's record in expanding broadband communication is so poor that it should be viewed as an outrage by every consumer and businessperson in the country. Too few of us have broadband connections, and those who do pay too much for service that is too slow. It's hurting our economy, and things are only going to get worse if we don't do something about it.
The United States is 15th in the world in broadband penetration, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). When the ITU measured a broader "digital opportunity" index (considering price and other factors) we were 21st -- right after Estonia. Asian and European customers get home connections of 25 to 100 megabits per second (fast enough to stream high-definition video). Here, we pay almost twice as much for connections that are one-twentieth the speed.
How have we fallen so far behind? Through lack of competition. As the Congressional Research Service puts it, U.S. consumers face a "cable and telephone broadband duopoly." And that's more like a best-case scenario: Many households are hostage to a single broadband provider, and nearly one-tenth have no broadband provider at all.
For businesses, it's just as bad. The telecom merger spree has left many office buildings with a single provider -- leading to annual estimated overcharges of $8 billion. Our broadband infrastructure should be a reason companies want to do business in the United States, not just another reason to go offshore.
The stakes for our economy could not be higher. Our broadband failure places a ceiling over the productivity of far too much of the country. Should we expect small-town businesses to enter the digital economy, and students to enter the digital classroom, via a dial-up connection? The Internet can bring life-changing opportunities to those who don't live in large cities, but only if it is available and affordable.
Even in cities and suburbs, the fact that broadband is too slow, too expensive and too poorly subscribed is a significant drag on our economy. Some experts estimate that universal broadband adoption would add $500 billion to the U.S. economy and create 1.2 million jobs.
Future generations will ultimately pay for our missteps. Albert Einstein reportedly quipped that compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe. Investment in infrastructure is how a nation harnesses this awesome multiplier. Consider that 80 percent of the growth in fiber-to-the-home (super-high-speed) subscribers last year was not in the United States but in Japan. One does not need Einstein's grasp of mathematics to understand that we cannot keep pace on our current trajectory.
I don't claim to have all the answers. But there are concrete steps government must take now to reverse our slide into communications mediocrity.
To begin with, the Federal Communications Commission -- of which I am a member -- must face up to the problem. Today the agency's reports seem designed mostly to obscure the fact that we are falling behind the rest of the world. The FCC still defines broadband as 200 kilobits per second, assumes that if one person in a Zip code area has access to broadband then everyone does and fails to gather any data on pricing.
The FCC needs to start working to lower prices and introduce competition. We must start meeting our legislative mandate to get advanced telecommunications out to all Americans at reasonable prices; make new licensed and unlicensed spectrum available; authorize "smart radios" that use spectrum more efficiently; and do a better job of encouraging "third pipe" technologies such as wireless and broadband over power lines. And we should recommend steps to Congress to ensure the FCC's ability to implement long-term solutions.
We need a broadband strategy for America. Other industrialized countries have developed national broadband strategies. In the United States we have a campaign promise of universal broadband access by 2007, but no strategy for getting there. With less than two months to go, we aren't even within shouting distance.
The solution to our broadband crisis must ultimately involve public-private initiatives like those that built the railroad, highway and telephone systems. Combined with an overhaul of our universal service system to make sure it is focusing on the needs of broadband, this represents our best chance at recapturing our leadership position.
It seems plain enough that our present policies aren't working. Inattention and muddling through may be the path of least resistance, but they should not and must not represent our national policy on this critical issue.
Source: WashingtonPost.com
Wednesday, November 8, 2006; Page A27
America's record in expanding broadband communication is so poor that it should be viewed as an outrage by every consumer and businessperson in the country. Too few of us have broadband connections, and those who do pay too much for service that is too slow. It's hurting our economy, and things are only going to get worse if we don't do something about it.
The United States is 15th in the world in broadband penetration, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). When the ITU measured a broader "digital opportunity" index (considering price and other factors) we were 21st -- right after Estonia. Asian and European customers get home connections of 25 to 100 megabits per second (fast enough to stream high-definition video). Here, we pay almost twice as much for connections that are one-twentieth the speed.
How have we fallen so far behind? Through lack of competition. As the Congressional Research Service puts it, U.S. consumers face a "cable and telephone broadband duopoly." And that's more like a best-case scenario: Many households are hostage to a single broadband provider, and nearly one-tenth have no broadband provider at all.
For businesses, it's just as bad. The telecom merger spree has left many office buildings with a single provider -- leading to annual estimated overcharges of $8 billion. Our broadband infrastructure should be a reason companies want to do business in the United States, not just another reason to go offshore.
The stakes for our economy could not be higher. Our broadband failure places a ceiling over the productivity of far too much of the country. Should we expect small-town businesses to enter the digital economy, and students to enter the digital classroom, via a dial-up connection? The Internet can bring life-changing opportunities to those who don't live in large cities, but only if it is available and affordable.
Even in cities and suburbs, the fact that broadband is too slow, too expensive and too poorly subscribed is a significant drag on our economy. Some experts estimate that universal broadband adoption would add $500 billion to the U.S. economy and create 1.2 million jobs.
Future generations will ultimately pay for our missteps. Albert Einstein reportedly quipped that compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe. Investment in infrastructure is how a nation harnesses this awesome multiplier. Consider that 80 percent of the growth in fiber-to-the-home (super-high-speed) subscribers last year was not in the United States but in Japan. One does not need Einstein's grasp of mathematics to understand that we cannot keep pace on our current trajectory.
I don't claim to have all the answers. But there are concrete steps government must take now to reverse our slide into communications mediocrity.
To begin with, the Federal Communications Commission -- of which I am a member -- must face up to the problem. Today the agency's reports seem designed mostly to obscure the fact that we are falling behind the rest of the world. The FCC still defines broadband as 200 kilobits per second, assumes that if one person in a Zip code area has access to broadband then everyone does and fails to gather any data on pricing.
The FCC needs to start working to lower prices and introduce competition. We must start meeting our legislative mandate to get advanced telecommunications out to all Americans at reasonable prices; make new licensed and unlicensed spectrum available; authorize "smart radios" that use spectrum more efficiently; and do a better job of encouraging "third pipe" technologies such as wireless and broadband over power lines. And we should recommend steps to Congress to ensure the FCC's ability to implement long-term solutions.
We need a broadband strategy for America. Other industrialized countries have developed national broadband strategies. In the United States we have a campaign promise of universal broadband access by 2007, but no strategy for getting there. With less than two months to go, we aren't even within shouting distance.
The solution to our broadband crisis must ultimately involve public-private initiatives like those that built the railroad, highway and telephone systems. Combined with an overhaul of our universal service system to make sure it is focusing on the needs of broadband, this represents our best chance at recapturing our leadership position.
It seems plain enough that our present policies aren't working. Inattention and muddling through may be the path of least resistance, but they should not and must not represent our national policy on this critical issue.
Source: WashingtonPost.com
IBM: Every continent in the world is about to deploy BPL.
IBM Business Consulting Services
Exploiting broadband over power lines.
Every continent in the world is about to deploy BPL. Can the
United States afford to stay out of the game?
READ: IBM Business Consulting Services
Exploiting broadband over power lines.
Every continent in the world is about to deploy BPL. Can the
United States afford to stay out of the game?
READ: IBM Business Consulting Services
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
FCC Fosters Commercial BPL
UPLC Applauds Decision to Classify BPL Internet Services As Information Services
Washington, DC – The United Power Line Council (UPLC) hailed today’s action by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that provides regulatory certainty for Broadband over Power Line (BPL) Internet services, which will encourage investment in BPL and deployment of broadband services to consumers.
The FCC granted the UPLC’s petition for declaratory ruling to classify BPL Internet access services as an information service, subject to FCC Title I jurisdiction. In so doing, the FCC promotes broadband competition with cable modem and DSL, which the FCC already classified as information services. In addition to providing a level regulatory playing field, the decision also provides regulatory certainty for BPL providers, as they begin to offer commercial services on a wide scale basis. Today’s decision will encourage the deployment of BPL systems by limiting regulation of BPL services. This will promote broadband access to rural and underserved consumers that currently can't get or afford broadband. The deployment of BPL also provides benefits for homeland security, creating a third broadband platform that will promote network reliability and redundancy.
The UPLC appreciates the support of the FCC in granting its petition for declaratory ruling. It is pleased that the FCC has acted and it looks forward to reviewing the details of the decision, after the Order is released.
Monday, November 06, 2006
FCC Gives Broadband-Over-Power-Lines Light Regulatory Touch
Publication Date: 6 November 2006
The US Federal Communications Commission late last week freed broadband-over-power-line technology from various regulatory constraints by classifying the technology as an information service. This puts BPL in the same regulatory bucket as cable modem and DSL.
The FCC voted unanimously to approve the United Power Line Council’s bid for the classification, as was widely expected. The FCC had reiterated its support of BPL in recent months.
If the FCC had classified BPL as a telecommunications service instead, BPL providers that use power transmission lines to provide data access would have been subject to far more regulations.
Previously, the FCC ordered that BPL providers could not interfere with existing radio services, despite requests by several entities, including amateur radio, aviation and broadcasting groups, to either ban or limit the service.
BPL is still very much in its nascent stages in the US, with just a handful of networks currently deployed around the country, predominantly in the northeast.
“The commission’s broadband statistics show that subscribers to BPL Internet access services, although few in number overall, increased by nearly 200% in 2005,” said FCC chairperson Kevin Martin, in a statement. “These services hold great promise for consumers. It is, therefore, critical that the commission take appropriate action to foster their development.”
Source: Datamonitor
The US Federal Communications Commission late last week freed broadband-over-power-line technology from various regulatory constraints by classifying the technology as an information service. This puts BPL in the same regulatory bucket as cable modem and DSL.
The FCC voted unanimously to approve the United Power Line Council’s bid for the classification, as was widely expected. The FCC had reiterated its support of BPL in recent months.
If the FCC had classified BPL as a telecommunications service instead, BPL providers that use power transmission lines to provide data access would have been subject to far more regulations.
Previously, the FCC ordered that BPL providers could not interfere with existing radio services, despite requests by several entities, including amateur radio, aviation and broadcasting groups, to either ban or limit the service.
BPL is still very much in its nascent stages in the US, with just a handful of networks currently deployed around the country, predominantly in the northeast.
“The commission’s broadband statistics show that subscribers to BPL Internet access services, although few in number overall, increased by nearly 200% in 2005,” said FCC chairperson Kevin Martin, in a statement. “These services hold great promise for consumers. It is, therefore, critical that the commission take appropriate action to foster their development.”
Source: Datamonitor
Sunday, November 05, 2006
BPL Company -"Current Comm. had accused AT&T of trying to stifle competition"
AT&T battles TXU partner
Firms clash over plans to use power lines for broadband
11:56 PM CST on Friday, November 3, 2006
By CRAYTON HARRISON / The Dallas Morning News
The company installing broadband Internet technology along TXU Corp.'s power lines may have to temporarily stop some of its work under a Friday court order sought by AT&T Inc.
The temporary restraining order, issued Friday afternoon in state District Court in Dallas County, was the latest action in an escalating dispute between AT&T and the TXU partner, Current Communications Group Inc.
Earlier Friday, Current had accused AT&T of trying to stifle competition. The company wants to build the network to offer a new kind of broadband Internet to about 2 million Texas energy customers.
AT&T also offers broadband Internet service over its phone lines.
But AT&T says it's just trying to protect its workers from a safety hazard on utility poles.
The dispute could affect the plans of Current and of TXU's Electric Delivery unit, which wants to use Current's technology to help it ward off power failures.
In a filing Friday, Current asked the Texas Public Utility Commission to rule on the matter. AT&T, in turn, filed suit, saying it needed to stop Current from creating what it called safety risks.
At the heart of the issue is a technical debate about where Current can put equipment on utility poles. AT&T, which owns some of the poles that carry TXU power lines, says Current is installing equipment too close to areas where AT&T employees have to work.
"AT&T pledges to fight for both competition and public safety," AT&T Texas president James Epperson said Friday in a written statement.
Current, on the other hand, says its equipment is in a safe area, citing standards developed by an international engineering group.
"If AT&T were to act on its threats and begin removing Current's attachments, Current would be unable to install and operate" a broadband network on TXU's electric lines, Current said in its petition Friday to the PUC.
A Current spokeswoman said she was unsure how the company would interpret Friday's court action, which ordered Current to stop installing its equipment on poles owned by AT&T, unless the installation complied with an agreement between the two companies.
TXU and Current announced their plans for the broadband Internet service late last year. Privately held Current, based in Maryland, is paying for the enhancements to the grid. TXU is paying Current $150 million over 10 years and bought a small, undisclosed stake in the company in May.
Current is still on track to begin providing service on the network by the end of this year, company spokeswoman Melissa Kresse said.
Source: Dallas Morning News
Firms clash over plans to use power lines for broadband
11:56 PM CST on Friday, November 3, 2006
By CRAYTON HARRISON / The Dallas Morning News
The company installing broadband Internet technology along TXU Corp.'s power lines may have to temporarily stop some of its work under a Friday court order sought by AT&T Inc.
The temporary restraining order, issued Friday afternoon in state District Court in Dallas County, was the latest action in an escalating dispute between AT&T and the TXU partner, Current Communications Group Inc.
Earlier Friday, Current had accused AT&T of trying to stifle competition. The company wants to build the network to offer a new kind of broadband Internet to about 2 million Texas energy customers.
AT&T also offers broadband Internet service over its phone lines.
But AT&T says it's just trying to protect its workers from a safety hazard on utility poles.
The dispute could affect the plans of Current and of TXU's Electric Delivery unit, which wants to use Current's technology to help it ward off power failures.
In a filing Friday, Current asked the Texas Public Utility Commission to rule on the matter. AT&T, in turn, filed suit, saying it needed to stop Current from creating what it called safety risks.
At the heart of the issue is a technical debate about where Current can put equipment on utility poles. AT&T, which owns some of the poles that carry TXU power lines, says Current is installing equipment too close to areas where AT&T employees have to work.
"AT&T pledges to fight for both competition and public safety," AT&T Texas president James Epperson said Friday in a written statement.
Current, on the other hand, says its equipment is in a safe area, citing standards developed by an international engineering group.
"If AT&T were to act on its threats and begin removing Current's attachments, Current would be unable to install and operate" a broadband network on TXU's electric lines, Current said in its petition Friday to the PUC.
A Current spokeswoman said she was unsure how the company would interpret Friday's court action, which ordered Current to stop installing its equipment on poles owned by AT&T, unless the installation complied with an agreement between the two companies.
TXU and Current announced their plans for the broadband Internet service late last year. Privately held Current, based in Maryland, is paying for the enhancements to the grid. TXU is paying Current $150 million over 10 years and bought a small, undisclosed stake in the company in May.
Current is still on track to begin providing service on the network by the end of this year, company spokeswoman Melissa Kresse said.
Source: Dallas Morning News
Friday, November 03, 2006
FCC approves BROADBAND over POWERLINES as Information Services to expedite Nationwide Deployment !!!
Watch and Listen: *Here*
Needs Real Player media
November 3, 2006
SOURCE: www.FCC.GOV
FCC CLASSIFIES BROADBAND OVER POWER LINE-ENABLED INTERNET
ACCESS AS “INFORMATION SERVICE”
Classification Provides Certainty for BPL Providers to Increase Broadband Deployment
Washington, D.C. – The Federal Communications Commission today declares
Broadband over Power Line (BPL)-enabled Internet access service to be an information service.
The order places BPL-enabled Internet access service on an equal regulatory footing with other
broadband services, such as cable modem service and DSL Internet access service. Competition
among broadband services providers will provide consumers with more and better services at
lower prices.
Specifically, the Order finds that the transmission component underlying BPL-enabled
Internet access service is “telecommunications,” and that the provision of this
telecommunications transmission component as part of a functionally integrated, finished BPLenabled
Internet access service offering is an information service. This approach is consistent
with the framework that the Commission has established for cable modem service and wireline
broadband Internet access service, furthering the Commission’s goal of regulating like services
in a similar manner.
In reaching these determinations, the Commission provides regulatory certainty regarding
the classification of this service, thereby encouraging deployment of BPL-enabled Internet
access to consumers.
Action by the Commission, November 3, 2006, by Memorandum Opinion and Order (FCC 06-
165). Chairman Martin, Commissioner Tate, with Commissioners Copps and Adelstein
concurring, and Commissioner McDowell not participating. Separate statements issued by
Chairman Martin, Commissioners Copps, Adelstein, and Tate.
WC Docket No.: 06-10
Wireline Competition Bureau Staff Contact: Adam Kirschenbaum, 202-418-7280;
adam.kirschenbaum@fcc.gov.
-FCCNews
about the Federal Communications Commission can also be found
on the Commission’s web site www.fcc.gov.
Needs Real Player media
November 3, 2006
SOURCE: www.FCC.GOV
FCC CLASSIFIES BROADBAND OVER POWER LINE-ENABLED INTERNET
ACCESS AS “INFORMATION SERVICE”
Classification Provides Certainty for BPL Providers to Increase Broadband Deployment
Washington, D.C. – The Federal Communications Commission today declares
Broadband over Power Line (BPL)-enabled Internet access service to be an information service.
The order places BPL-enabled Internet access service on an equal regulatory footing with other
broadband services, such as cable modem service and DSL Internet access service. Competition
among broadband services providers will provide consumers with more and better services at
lower prices.
Specifically, the Order finds that the transmission component underlying BPL-enabled
Internet access service is “telecommunications,” and that the provision of this
telecommunications transmission component as part of a functionally integrated, finished BPLenabled
Internet access service offering is an information service. This approach is consistent
with the framework that the Commission has established for cable modem service and wireline
broadband Internet access service, furthering the Commission’s goal of regulating like services
in a similar manner.
In reaching these determinations, the Commission provides regulatory certainty regarding
the classification of this service, thereby encouraging deployment of BPL-enabled Internet
access to consumers.
Action by the Commission, November 3, 2006, by Memorandum Opinion and Order (FCC 06-
165). Chairman Martin, Commissioner Tate, with Commissioners Copps and Adelstein
concurring, and Commissioner McDowell not participating. Separate statements issued by
Chairman Martin, Commissioners Copps, Adelstein, and Tate.
WC Docket No.: 06-10
Wireline Competition Bureau Staff Contact: Adam Kirschenbaum, 202-418-7280;
adam.kirschenbaum@fcc.gov.
-FCCNews
about the Federal Communications Commission can also be found
on the Commission’s web site www.fcc.gov.
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