EarthLink and Telkonet Team Up to Test Broadband over Power Lines

5:55 am on October 20, 2006 | Category: Internet, Telecom Services, VoIP

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EarthLink and Telkonet have agreed to conduct joint testing of Broadband over Power Lines technology in nine Washington D.C. apartment complexes.

Telkonet will provide its iWire System platform, which allows high-speed internet access over the ordinary power lines in every home.

Atlanta-based EarthLink says that it will market this innovative new service to apartment dwellers as part of a home networking package, which also includes digital telephone, caller ID, voicemail, and three-way calling services.

If testing is successful, the two companies will likely extend their agreement to cover other apartment complexes in Washington and other U.S. cities.

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    1. EarthLink to offer internet to 6,000 DUKE ENERGY and Ambient Corp. Broadband over Power Line`s customers !!!

      Duke to open commercial trial with Ambient gear
      October 3, 2006

      EarthLink to offer internet to 6,000

      Duke Energy recently started building the next phase of its master BPL plan — a commercial trial using Ambient’s latest access BPL gear.

      The utility for years has been slowly following a plan of phased deployments starting with technology trials that began several years ago.

      The latest technology trials at Duke, one of the largest IOUs in the US, included technology from Ambient and Current Technologies.

      Previous trials included Mitsubishi — a relationship that ended recently, reported the Charlotte (NC) Business Journal (http://tinyurl.com/rb4gl).

      The Ambient gear was shown on a tour during the UPLC’s annual BPL conference in Charlotte two weeks ago.

      Duke Energy headquarters are in Charlotte.

      The utility sees a bright future for BPL at Duke and throughout the utility industry, Sandra Meyer sees told the audience at the UPLC event.

      She’s Duke’s group vice president of customer service sales and marketing.

      The utility believes building, owning and running the network is the best approach, she reported.

      Some BPL technology firms may be counting on taking on some of those responsibilities but not Ambient, the technology firm’s CEO John Joyce told us Friday.

      The Newton, Mass, firm is comfortable with as much or little involvement in each deployment as the utility needs or wants.

      Ambient learned from its work with Duke, fine tuned its technology and developed a network management software system that Duke will license.

      Duke’s decision to go to the commercial phase with Ambient gear is significant — for Ambient and for the industry, Joyce reported.

      One reason Ambient chose to work with Duke in 2005 was that the utility is a seen as a leader in the BPL world, he added.

      “Everyone recognizes that.

      “They’ve had a dedicated staff working on BPL, working on business models with BPL, working with the regulators in the various states” where the utility operates and in helping to set the standards, Joyce noted.

      Duke is a full member of the UPLC with membership on its board.

      It’s a member of the HomePlug Powerline Alliance and the UPA and represents the interests of utilities and other BPL users in the IEEE standards efforts (more on that below).

      Duke’s commitment to BPL has been longstanding and its approach to deploying the technology measured.

      Some might call it slow.

      Caution is not only typical of the utilities — an industry that deals with a dangerous product and sometimes costly technology mistakes — but such diligence at a pioneering firm may be best for the BPL industry.

      Ambient gets it.

      “We believe that Duke’s cautious and rigorous approach to validating our BPL technology prior to this initial deployment further strengthens the credibility of the BPL industry,” Joyce told the press last week.

      “We’ve had a number of conversations especially last week down in Charlotte with other utilities that are very much interested in understanding the Duke process,” said Joyce.

      Duke’s progress “puts the whole industry in a different light,” he added.

      Once the network is built and the homes passed, EarthLink will offer broadband in this deployment, said Joyce.

      The household-name ISP is actively looking for such opportunities (BT, 9/19).

      Comment by trexia — October 20, 2006 #

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    Edited by Jeremy Maddock