Unique Broadband Over Powerline Project Planned For Mosques 205
Lucas123 writes "Broadband over powerline (BPL) provider Velchip is heading up a project that will offer 60 million very unique network users an unlimited high speed Internet connection of 224Mbps at a cost of only around RM5 ($1.58) per user per month. That's the cheapest, fastest internet connection in the world. The network is slated for use in the $14 billion 'Smart Mosque' project, which will be rolled out over three years in Indonesia and will link together 400,000 mosques. To add some perspective, in the US Verizon FiOS currently offers up to 30 Mbps downloads and 5 Mbps uploads starting at $42.99 a month. BPL modems use existing electrical power lines to deliver high speed Internet access and data transmission."
Re:Whoa there Nelly! (Score:2, Informative)
Bad Idea (Score:3, Informative)
It might just about work in a country where there is no radio or TV broadcasting or mobile telephony to interfere with, and no panic about the effects of stray RF waves on the human body.
Re:Could someone enlighten me? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:It'll never happen (Score:5, Informative)
BPL is deploying in the U.S. (Score:4, Informative)
But... deployment here is three years behind schedule. Customers of two substations have it, but I don't know how well it is working. The company claims some equipment problem.
Rural users are really looking forward to this, if it works, or any alternative to satellite. The electrical co-op (non-profit utility, like a credit union compared to a bank, established in the 1930's) said the price would be $25/month. Satellite is $40 with terrible contracts and equipment costs. Not to mention gamers cannot live with the 0.7+ second lag.
There is no alternative in rural areas, where our cell service is marginal. Dialup with images off has been fun! More important than images off is selectively blocking Flash.
Deployment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_line_communication#Deployments [wikipedia.org] But see the next section, "Concluded Deployments" with a long list of place where BPL has been dismantled.
As for the tech. aspects, note you can run internet over a fence wire.
Re:Bad Idea (Score:2, Informative)
There are 2 different concepts:
1) Using high voltage long distance lines
2) Using household voltage lines and distances
The first approach has been pretty much abandoned. The second is very much alive and competing fiercely with Wi-Fi.
There are 2 competing camps, one being HomePlug and the other using chips from a Spanish company, ES2.
I have conducted trials with HomePlug AV in a marina. The claim is 200Mbps but you won't even get this when you plug 2 of those adapters side by side on an extension cord.
A more realistic assumption is around 50 Mbps. I have actally tested this in a marina over a distance of 120 meters and measured 58 Mbps rock solid stable.
So far I've bought about 40 units.
Re:It'll never happen (Score:3, Informative)
Okay, then you're just wrong. Telephone lines are neither; their loop system is almost like a balanced signal, but not close enough to actually prevent interference, and they broadcast a very strong electromagnetic signal that you can pick up with sensitive radio equipment from a few tens of meters away (or with a couple of transistors and a 1.5v cell at a distance of a few cm). Whether or not the cable is twisted has no impact on this. Interference is a very real problem with telephone lines, and the only reason it doesn't affect radios is because it doesn't use those frequencies.
Re:Ok so the worth of freedom to slashdot users (Score:2, Informative)
Re:BPL screws up shortwave radio (Score:2, Informative)
I, as well as many others I'm sure, have submitted numerous news stories to /. about the flagrant bias toward BPL and the facts being covered up by the FCC. Oddly, none ever get posted. Mod me troll, I don't care; I think it's obvious what side of the issue the /. mods are on.
http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/ [arrl.org]
Re:It'll never happen (Score:3, Informative)