Comment it could be very useful (Score 1) 456
well first off i'm a sparky for a major utility in the UK and routinely project manage the installation of overheads and cables etc.. so I'm fairly up to date with the latest & greatest
The first thing to point out is that you only get interference issues from overhead lines. Buried power cables are all screend, and laid in a special formation called trefoil, which virtually eliminates any associated EM field.
From a commercial point, by combining utilites i.e. power/Broadband your cutting down on running costs as everything is easier to maintain. Transmission/distributions systems are also a lot more secure (in terms of not going off) than telephone circuits.
For the overhead issues, firstly it all depends on which country you live in, the US/Canada has different votlages and frequency to everywhere else and is also much bigger with a lot more overhead. Therefore the practicalities are different; the phase spacing between the wires are much wider and creates a a larger interference area. In Europe the interference created is less of an impact.
Basically, BPL will be commercially very attractive in city centres where there either isn't a lot of fibre optics installed and/or the majority of the power network is fed from underground cables. As underground cables won't cause any interference and the bulk of the infrastructure is allready installed.
There is also an interesting variation on offer in the UK, called blink broadband. This takes the main ADSL connection from you telephone wires and then plug into your domestic power and use your own home main ring - you then plug your laptop computer into any power socket in the house and don't need to worry about having a phone point nearby. Not actually sure if its any use, as my guess is broadband will go wireless over then next decade. http://www.blinkbroadband.co.uk/
The first thing to point out is that you only get interference issues from overhead lines. Buried power cables are all screend, and laid in a special formation called trefoil, which virtually eliminates any associated EM field.
From a commercial point, by combining utilites i.e. power/Broadband your cutting down on running costs as everything is easier to maintain. Transmission/distributions systems are also a lot more secure (in terms of not going off) than telephone circuits.
For the overhead issues, firstly it all depends on which country you live in, the US/Canada has different votlages and frequency to everywhere else and is also much bigger with a lot more overhead. Therefore the practicalities are different; the phase spacing between the wires are much wider and creates a a larger interference area. In Europe the interference created is less of an impact.
Basically, BPL will be commercially very attractive in city centres where there either isn't a lot of fibre optics installed and/or the majority of the power network is fed from underground cables. As underground cables won't cause any interference and the bulk of the infrastructure is allready installed.
There is also an interesting variation on offer in the UK, called blink broadband. This takes the main ADSL connection from you telephone wires and then plug into your domestic power and use your own home main ring - you then plug your laptop computer into any power socket in the house and don't need to worry about having a phone point nearby. Not actually sure if its any use, as my guess is broadband will go wireless over then next decade. http://www.blinkbroadband.co.uk/
