Utilities turn to IBM for BPL solution
Feb 25, 2009 12:48 PM, By Lynnette Luna
Just when it appeared broadband-over-powerline 
(BPL) technology was going to die off, IBM and 
rural Internet service provider (ISP) 
International Broadband Electric 
Communicationswith help from a $9.6-million cash 
infusion from IBM and $70 million in government 
loansare deploying BPL networks for almost 
200,000 rural customers served by seven 
electrical cooperatives in Alabama, Indiana, Michigan and Virginia.
The move comes months after two of BPLs highest 
profile deployments died out and as many BPL 
vendors have begun focusing on smart electrical 
networks rather than consumer broadband delivery. 
The technology, which modifies radio signals to 
transmit voice and Internet data over electric 
utility power lines, was extremely hyped early 
this decade, when it was billed as a way for 
power companies to become the third alternative 
in the broadband market, competing against cable 
and DSL operators in urban areas.
But the technology has been slow to take off, as 
technical limitations and interference problems 
with ham radios and local emergency radios kept 
it from being adopted widespread. Moreover, power 
companies realized they just couldnt compete 
with cable and high-speed telco offerings in urban areas.
BPL now has improved from a technical standpoint 
and, according to Ray Blair, advanced networking 
executive with IBMs Global Technology Services. 
BPL has found its niche in the rural market, 
where access customers have no wireline broadband alternatives.
Another important niche has to do with the need 
for utilities to incorporate intelligent-grid 
capabilities, such as smart metering and energy-outage monitoring.
The intelligent grid, by nature, is filled by a 
lot of devices that need to communicate with each 
other back to a centralized location, and that 
drives a lot of bandwidtha lot more than what 
utilities can handle today, Blair said.
I, for one, will be waiting to see how IBEC and 
IBM can make BPL a profitable technology. Last 
May, DirecTV and Current Communications sold a 
flagship BPL deployment in Dallas to the local 
utility after they couldnt make a go of it. The 
utility is using the network for smart-grid 
monitoring only. In this case, the combination of 
using the technology as a broadband offering and 
for the electric cooperatives smart grids increases the chances of success.
Still, Blair concedes that the cost of such 
networks vary from situation to situation. BPL 
deployments typically cost half of wireless 
network deployments, but the ongoing costs might 
not be advantageous. Its more than just the 
cost of the network. Operational expenditure is 
the key piece to understand. In some cases, BPL 
looks good paper, but on the opex side, it might 
not be so good, and wireless might look better.
So, the business case for BPL isnt 
straightforward, and it appears companies looking 
to utilize the technology must do some 
significant vetting and perhaps look outside the 
box to find more ways to recoup their 
investments. According to Blair, that might 
include striking a deal with the local 
municipality to backhaul surveillance cameras or read water meters.