[LINK] powerline net access

[stephen loosley]

Hello there,

The possibility of Internet access over electricity lines has been discussed on link at length before, and some dinosaurs I'd respect seem to think it's not possible, or at least impractical. Anyway, here's another such report, albeit un-confirmed (www.handelsblatt.de?)  Though, if it's true, who needs cable?

Veba to Offer Net Access Via [Electrical] Wall Sockets Before End of Year 
http://www.handelsblatt.de/cgi-bin/hbi.exe?SH=&iPV=0&FN=hb&SFN=news_wh_artenglishsum&iID=36433
HANDELSBLATT ENGLISH SUMMARY, Wednesday, 23 February 2000 

HB/mgb. Veba subsidiary PreussenElektra said on Tuesday that its technology enabling Internet access via electricity sockets was ready for market-introduction...
  
The firm has been testing powerline technology in eight households around the Magdeburg area in eastern Germany since February 1999. Results have shown that the electricity network is not only capable of downloading information at speeds of up to 2 mbps but also that it can be used for straightforward vocal telephony. In addition, Harig said: "With our solution, the problem area of line-disturbance is almost eradicated."

Harig believes that powerline will also enable utilities to sell, deliver, measure and bill electricity individually. The central tool in powerline is known as an "online box". The shoe carton-sized box is installed alongside the customer's meter and acts as an information bridge between supplier and end-user. Additional appliances, which simply plug into wall sockets, then enable PCs to communicate with the online box.

Veba's solution, argues Harig, has the advantage over similar ones offered by Siemens/EnBW and RWE/Ascom in that it also permits normal telephony. However an analyst was quick to remark that "much is always promised and problems only ever arise later on, in practice".

Powerline technology is one of the focal points of this year's CeBIT trade fair, with several consortia expected to present solutions. 
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