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The idea of moving data over electrical wires is nothing new though recent improvements in the technology have made Power Line Communications closer to reality than ever before.   Our Special Focus author this week, Jennifer Mears (jmears@nww.com) writes that utilities have used low frequency signals sent across their networks to remotely manage equipment and monitor power distribution for years.

The idea of moving data over electrical wires is nothing new though recent improvements in the technology have made Power Line Communications closer to reality than ever before.jmears@nww.com) writes that utilities have used low frequency signals sent across their networks to remotely manage equipment and monitor power distribution for years. 

Our Special Focus author this week, Jennifer Mears (

Today, companies such as Ambient (which is conducting field tests with Con Edison electric and others), Amperion, Current Technologies and Main.Net all have developed technology to move bits across medium and low voltage lines.

PLC is defined as a last mile technology. Data is handed off from a fiber optic line or a T1, for example, and injected into a medium voltage line.

Once there, Amperion uses Wi-Fi to go directly into the home, avoiding the transformer and the low voltage lines altogether. The broadband connection is then accessed through a Wi-Fi hookup. Other vendors either go around the transformer, or through it, sending the IP packets onto the low voltage lines and then directly to the power outlets. The connection is accessed via a PLC modem that plugs into the wall.

Providers claim throughput speeds of between 500 kilobits and 3M bit/sec, on par with DSL and cable, but say they can also sell the service for $30 per month, below the $50 per month that DSL and cable users now pay.

As a result, power line communications – or broadband over power line as the Federal Communication Commission refers to it – is getting an increasing amount of attention as a possible third pipe to deliver broadband Internet access to homes and businesses across the country.

For more on this story see: https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/0602carrspecialfocus.html