[LINK] BPL

[Richard Chirgwin]

This is rude, but I'm going to start from the bottom-up.

> I'm not being a smart arse .. i just want to know why a lot of
> Australia has NOT got BB nor probably anytime soon, when it seems that
> this system apparently works quite well. Is it really only a matter of
> an incentive?

1) A lot of Australia hasn't got broadband because about half or more is
so close to uninhabited. We have larger areas of *desert* than the
entire area of the UK and France.

2) I'm certainly not saying BPL works well, or at all. And I don't think
it is remotely suitable for those people a long outside the broadband /
likely broadband footprint, because it will suffer from being too
expensive if there's not a lot of users. It will not ever solve the
problems for the remote household.

Without being a smart-arse myself, the question is always 'how much of
Australia doesn't have broadband'? Do we mean the political lobbying
number? or the real number? Measuring this stuff is difficult - I say
this from direct experience, as someone who spends a lot of a working
week doing exactly that, as a contractor
to:http://marketclarity.com.au/research/telecom-atlas-2009.cfm

But I also know (from experience) that anyone trying to introduce
measurement in place of anecdote is unwelcome in many quarters.

> Apparently only the US
>> & Malaysa have developed specs as yet, and they're the same (FCC) anyway

But that's just the interference spec. It has nothing to do with
standardisation. A standard should be treated as a requirement for a
deployment. That's the industry's fault - the very vendors that want us
to hail the technology as a savior.

> So do you, or any linker see any real impediment to a
>> tax break or two for BPL systems?  Sure, maybe not today, but apparently
>> BB perhaps sooner than just about any other BB system.

Reason not to offer a tax break? Yes. The technology is not commercially
viable, and will never, ever break the tyranny of distance.

Personally, if I were spending money to improve the lot of the most
remote users, I really would direct it towards wireless.

RC

stephen at melbpc.org.au wrote:
>>>>> (Access) is important, does anyone have any additional facts re this?
>> Let's line up a few facts.
>> - Aurora in Tas was discontinued ages ago.
>> - SP Ausnet discontinued its trial in about 2007.
>> - I cannot find any evidence that Country Energy turned its trial into
>>   a commercial service.  http://m.zdnet.com.au/339285857.htm
>> - All wide-area (ie, excluding in-home) BPL systems are fully
>> proprietary. This makes the viability of commercial service completely
>> dependent on the system vendor. Standardisation efforts have gained no
>> headway. There is no completed IEEE standard. RC
> 
> 
> Thanks, Richard .. i guess most Linkers would accept what you write here
> as fact, including me. And yes, it IS early days. Apparently only the US
> & Malaysa have developed specs as yet, and they're the same (FCC) anyway
> 
> And, as Kim writes, and one imagines most Linkers would agree, broadband
> access for ALL is important. (Personally, with nil broadband access, nor
> any possibility anytime soon, it certainly is here) So given what you've
> said, does any of this preclude concerted Aussie government efforts that
> may encourage power company provision of broadband? It works, apparently
> quite well indeed. So do you, or any linker see any real impediment to a
> tax break or two for BPL systems?  Sure, maybe not today, but apparently
> BB perhaps sooner than just about any other BB system. And also, sure we
> can go ahead with quantum, whatever, systems, while providing incentives
> relatively cheaply for BPL access. Why not? Are there any real problems?
> 
> I'm not being a smart arse .. i just want to know why a lot of Australia
> has NOT got BB nor probably anytime soon, when it seems that this system 
> apparently works quite well. Is it really only a matter of an incentive?
>  
> If so, and word gets around, maybe country folk should be majorly pissed!
> 
> 
> Cheers,
> Stephen
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