This company is about to go public.
www.nrtc.coop
National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative...all sorts of services for rural areas, including new high-speed satellite internet.
It can also severely hamper shortwave, including Ham, radio communications.
Development is supposed to be underway that will deliver broadband directly through existing electrical wiring.
It is supposed to be something like 7x faster than highspeed cable.
Some DSL prices have dropped significantly, except for isolated areas not served by the big Bells and telecoms. Centurytel is still high priced. Cable HS in my area runs about $40 for the 4MiB download speed.
ping
I am clueless about this.
Would High Speed Internet effect the power grid in any way?
I would not want to live with another power outage like we did a few years ago.
This company is about to go public.
Time to sell your cable TV and internet-over-cable stocks...
Right now there is free wireless in downtown neighborhoods in Cincinnati.
bump
I am not a techician but never understood why there was that big of a problem serving rural areas. The towns have high speed at reasonable rates and they are basically the same distance from any really large urban areas as we are.
Page down this link:
http://www.oc-j.com/feb04/BPLandASP.htm
For BPL info, typical pricing, etc.
For Internet users, BPL service offers:
‘Always-on’ high-speed Internet access from power outlets throughout the home or business
Voice over IP capability for lower-cost telephony services over the network
Upload and download access at the same high speeds
Local area networking from all power outlets over existing electrical wiring without any additional wiring or equipment
Faster speeds at a lower monthly cost than other broadband services
Multiple speeds and pricing plans to meet individual needs and budgets
True ‘Plug-and-Play’ installation with no router or installation CD for activation within minutes.
Charges for small business have not yet been released but Current lists these monthly residential fees that will probably be a fairly accurate indicator of the pricing that can be expected from other companies:
Maximum speed of 1 Mbps = $29.95
Maximum speed of 2 Mbps = $34.95
Maximum speed of 3 Mbps = $39.95
Also this link for more info:
http://www.internetworldstats.com/articles/art072.htm
Yes BPL causes interference to other bands for HAM radio and elsewhere. They need to shut it down because it has been proven to cause harmful interference.
Not so great for radio communications near these powerlines.
Check out what ham radio operators have to say about this.
Ditto
One major impediment would be the rights of way agreements already used by power providers. Most of them were procured when land was cheap and the power company generally doesn;t own all that land. The ROW for power lines generally limits them to the transmission and distribution of electrical power. The phone companies then chirped in for communication paths.
The only significant defense for cable TV and telephony markets will probably be the ROW issue. Otherwise, it's a no-brainer,...whomever owns the major single conductor entering the overhead will control the bandwidth as well.
I have cable broadband, but it is extremely expensive. I anxiously await the day when competitors come in and run cable out of business. Cable is a ridiculous rip off.
I wish ISPs had alternatives besides slow (dialup) and fast (wireless, DSL or cable). My dialup gives me a painfully-slow 26K connection for 9.95/month. The more expensive dialups are no faster, I've tried them. I'm too far away from the telco for better speed. If someone would offer me, say, a true 56K for $20 a month I'd jump at it. I like web surfing, but not enough to pay $50 or more per month.
bring it on !