View Full Version : Cincinnati get BPL
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Cincinnati-based utility Cinergy and Current "Communications, with the financial help of Liberty Media, will begin offering consumers high-speed Internet access via their electrical outlets. All combined, the three companies are pouring $70 million into the venture. Providing Internet access via electric lines has been in the works for some time, but the technology now appears to be ready for prime time. An article in the Wall Street Journal examines Cinergy Broadband's new service, power line technology and the market for such "plug and play" service. According to an accompanying table, the power-line service will be priced competitively with that of cable and DSL", Ken Brown, Wall Street Journal, "The Web's new outlet," 3/2/04, p. B1 [/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Hey, anyone notice any impact on the Amateur bands?
Ive asked a group of hams in the cincy area this question and gotten nothing back. I think they were only running 100 homes during the test and you know there were no hams nearby and the levels were lower than what the system is going to use. 1mb big deal at a price that you can get 100 mb for . Good luck to these marketing geniuses.
k6pme
03-02-2004, 08:39 PM
$70 million dollars. That seems to be an awful lot of money to spend for technology that may or may not work effectively. And the article is from the WSJ no less.
I'm wondering what they know that we don't to spend that kind of money when BPL clearly has problems. The other question running through my leetle brain is how much are they willing to spend to protect that investment!
I'm thinking I need to call my financial guru and ask some questions.
W8EFA
03-03-2004, 05:16 AM
Since I live in Cincinnati here is some local perspective:
Cinergy has announced that they have found no problem with radio wave interference, a concern that was raised by many Amateur radio operators. I sure hope that turns out to be correct!
Curently about 100 homes are utilizing the service with a planned #offering to 55,000 homes by the end of the year.
Not sure what W8OB means by 1mb at 100MB prices?
This service is priced at 1MB upload and Download at 29.95. #Currently in Cincinnati DSL through Bell is 41.95 for the same speed, however it is ADSL #- upload speeds are slower than download. #Also available is Time Warner Cable for $44.95 for 3mb.
So the pricing is good plus the added convenience of being able to plug your laptop in anywhere there is an outlet. Another advantage is being able to supply broadband to rural and remote areas.
They are also planning on doing VOIP in the fall.
Also they are investing 70M because they are planning on marketing the technology to municipally owned power companies nationally, a potential market of 24 Million homes.
This area here you can get a 100 mb cable connection for $29.95 a month, you can get a lightning fast wireless connection also for $29.95 a month complete with yagi antenna. Nobody is going to know the complete effects of the BPL system until it is up and running and then I bet its going to be too late.
I live out in the country. #Only options are $15.95 dial-up or $60 Directway. #(We're 22,000 feet away from a DSL Point of Presense and cable companies will simply not come out here -- not cost effective)
If someone offered an alternative to increase speed to 1 - 3 meg I would be interested. #But not at the price of loosing HF capability.
Good to hear feedback from some of the local folks -- as more homes come on line it will be interesting to hear if the QRM noise increases
WA3KYY
03-03-2004, 03:45 PM
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (W8EFA @ Mar. 02 2004,22:16)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Not sure what W8OB means by 1mb at 100MB prices?
This service is priced at 1MB upload and Download at 29.95. #Currently in Cincinnati DSL through Bell is 41.95 for the same speed, however it is ADSL #- upload speeds are slower than download. #Also available is Time Warner Cable for $44.95 for 3mb.
So the pricing is good plus the added convenience of being able to plug your laptop in anywhere there is an outlet. Another advantage is being able to supply broadband to rural and remote areas.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Well out here, that pricing would not be competetive. 1.5 Mb ADSL runs me $24.95/mo and cable is $29.95/mo. The roll-out in Manassas, Va while about that price for three months will go to almost $50/mo after that.
I also question their ability to cost effectively bring broadband to the rural areas. The costs of cleaning up the rural power lines and adding the repeaters every few thousand feet is about the same as running cable or fiber out there, ie prohibitive or you'd see it already there.
Finally, I can operate my laptop from any room in my house and in my backyard now without plugging it in to anything. WiFi is a far better solution for in home use than BPL, especially for me when every time I transmit, I'd bring the BPL system down.
We all got to read between the lines of the BPL providers B.S.. You know with the cost of setting up this system that the rural Joe is going to be the very last one on the list to get service. They intend to stick to urban areas and see how much of a slice of the money pie they can cut into. Guess what I am confused by is the fact that satelite high speed is available just about all over the country and if rural people really need high speed why wait for BPL. By the time BPL gets it foot in the door the rates are going to skyrocket. This whole scene smells of "there is no such thing as a free lunch".