Smart Grid Brings Powerline Broadband Back? 120
judgecorp writes "The UK is giving powerline broadband a serious trial once again, in up to 1000 homes in Liverpool. The technology was once hailed as an alternative to ADSL, delivered over the electricity mains, but lost out because of radio interference and price. The UK government is backing the installation of smart meters across the country, and it seems a new generation of 200Mbps powerline broadband could ride on that, cutting the installation costs. What about the interference issues? A recent FAQ from the regulator, Ofcom, says it has not found any evidence of a breach of EMC rules, but is keeping an eye on it."
Re:You know that Internet 2 that everyone wanted? (Score:4, Insightful)
Its not a cure, but its a start.
I'm not sure how the UK is, but here in the US:
Comcast has an interest in blocking Netflix so they can sell me cable and Vonage so they can sell me phone service.
ATT has an interest in blocking Netflix so they can sell me cable (UVerse) Vonage so they can sell me phone service.
Eon has an interest in blocking ????? so they can sell me electricity.
Power companies main advantage is that they're another wire to the home, they have the infrastructure already. They'll have to overcome some hurdles since their current network engineers are in a classic internal support role, that is they have computer networks to support their main power delivery operations rather than supporting routing bits and bytes to the actual customers. The advantage to the consumer is that the power company is used to providing a (metered) pipe and thats about it. They have no other competitive issues because you can't power your house with an internet connection.
Re:A slight order of magnitude problem (Score:5, Insightful)
We have the meters inside, but a box with a fuse per household outside. You can cut the power to any floor by taking the fuse out.