BROADBAND: Electrifying Broadband

More homes are linked with power lines terminating into multiple sockets in
each room, in comparison to the reach of telephone lines. Power lines, which
deliver electricity, can be used to transport data and voice by use of broadband
over power lines (BPL) thus bridging the gap in the last mile. Demand for cheap
Internet access is mounting and BPL can help to meet this demand effectively.

BPL can deliver a broadband (2 Mbps) connection at home with the convenience
of plug-and-play. This not only makes IP connectivity available at all power
sockets but is also capable of building SIP-based telephony network, a parallel
telephony network to PSTN.

Currently
available second-generation BPL technology can provide throughput of up to 2
Mbps to each power line subscriber's home for data and voice. BPL can provide
means for monitoring various appliances used at home as also build a cheaper
means of voice communication. Video streaming will be available in the next
generation of BPL, likely in the coming years.

BPL provides distcoms with the means to not only reduce power losses by
making its network intelligent but also to build new revenue streams by using
the same asset to deliver appliance monitoring, telecommunications, and shortly
home-entertainment services like cable TV and video-on-demand. The possibilities
are very exciting for any forward-looking distcom and the government.

Scenario Abroad

Commercial deployment of BPL started in Central and Northern Europe in 2001,
followed by US and Latin America. Leading deployments are Mannheim (Germany,
85,000 households), Fribourg (Switzerland, 50,000 households), Linz (Austria,
35,000 households), and some in Spain too. Projects in Dresden and Hamelin
(Germany) have covered approximately 15,000 and 25,000 households. Commercial
deployments in Germany, Austria and many other countries including US are from
Main.net of Israel.

BPL has made significant technological advances in the recent past. Today it
delivers approx 15 Mbps of actual TCP/IP data rate. Breakthroughs in medium
voltage BPL technology have increased the reach of BPL networks. Next-generation
products promise lower cost as well as drastically enhanced date rates. Raw
speeds of some of the BPL chipset manufacturers (current/announced) are as
under.

• DS2 : 45 Mbps (200 Mbps announced)

• Spidcom : 224 Mbps announced

• Intellon/Homeplug : 14Mbps (200 Mbps announced)

• Xeline : 24Mbps (200 Mbps announced)

Standards

A large number of RFPs are under preparation on local and regional levels.
The European Commission has set out to define a unifying norm but no results
from Cenelec/ETSI have come forth yet. Recommendations for regulatory framework
for BPL by the European Commission are expected to be issued this summer. This
would deliver a reinforced legal basis for commercial BPL operations in Europe.

HomePlug Powerline Alliance, is an industry consortium that creates global
specifications for high-speed power line networking products and services. It
has already developed and released HomePlug 1.0, the world's only standard for
power line communications. This alliance is currently finalizing its
specification for HomePlug AV, a high-speed networking technology designed
specifically to meet the needs of digital multimedia networks in the home.

The advanced preliminary specification for HomePlug AV is the result of a
combined effort of leading proponents of power line technologies. HomePlug AV
will deliver the following benefits.

• 200 Mbps-class networking, enough to carry multiple HDTV programs around a
  house

• An advanced physical layer that offers near-capacity
  throughput performance and exceptional coverage for robust communications
  over noisy power line channels

• A high-efficiency MAC layer that incorporates both
  scheduled access (TDMA) with QoS guarantees, and contention access (CSMA).
  Features that are a must for the demands of multimedia content delivery
  include guaranteed bandwidth reservation, tight control of latency and
  jitter, and high reliability

• Advanced network management functions and facilities
  capable of supporting plug-and-play, user and service provider set-up, and
  configuration

• Coexistence modes enabling broadband over power line (BPL),
  multi-network operation, hidden node service, and backward compatibility
  with HomePlug 1.0

The Outlook

BPL has proven its ability to deliver basic broadband IP transport alternative
and it offers competition to established platforms-DSL and cable. Pure
broadband access with current SLAs is not a problem as it has been shown in the
commercial deployment in Linz, Mannheim, and others using technology from
Main.net, Israel. The question and challenge is how BPL can deliver the right
differentiators for service providers. With tumbling broadband access prices,
the focus will slowly shift to offer new value-added services on BPL. Already
challengers like Free (France) or Arcor (Germany) have incorporated an IP-TV
offer and Free as well as a couple of other players have launched their mass
market VoIP service.

BPL has unique capabilities related to the ubiquitous nature of an
electricity grid. This allows combining of utility-centric services (street
lighting management, remote control and surveillance of substations, automated
meter reading etc.) with end-user services (broadband Internet access, video and
voice, smart home services) in one platform. This could be one significant
differentiator of BPL from other platforms and allow the service provider to
offer broadband access at prices lower then the competition.

Challenge in the coming years is to have commercial success story to kick
start application of this technology and gain confidence of the skeptics in
India.

Building Smart Power Grids

Taking into account the above benefits of BPL, the dilemma is, how to build
a smart network on a legacy electrical distribution system. For this, distcoms
need to engage new technology providers or telcos and ISPs (who are looking for
greater access into homes) into a dialogue (maybe along with the financial
institutions).

Savings in power loss that can be achieved by using BPL can be quantified and
accounted for. A percentage of this incremental revenue could be contractually
committed through a financial institution, under a revenue-share arrangement to
the new technology provider who would then be motivated to make investments for
building BPL network and broadband services on power line.

The transmission and distribution losses of distcoms can be as high as 46
percent. If BPL helps to reduce this by 10 percent, this could results in
additional revenue of Rs 900 to Rs1000 crores. If 20 percent of this incremental
revenue is committed for BPL under a revenue-share arrangement, many players
will come forward to make use of distcom network to spread the reach of
broadband, and in this process make power distribution network smart and
intelligent for proactive energy distribution management. Such a symbiotic
relationship will not only benefit distcoms and telco/ISP, but also benefit the
end customer with better managed electric power (which could also become
cheaper), along with a cheaper and robust always-on broadband connection. To top
it all, the customer will be required to pay only one bill raised by the distcom,
provider for all power and telecom services.

Lalit K Chandak,
president Col S K Jain, general manager Span Technologies

US Regulator's Viewpoint

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) have been examining BPL technology and its
ability to improve communications for the American public and enhance power
supply system management.

Chairman
Pat Wood, III of FERC and Chairman Michael K Powell of the FCC agree that BPL
holds great promise for the American public. Specifically, FERC Chairman Wood
and FCC Chairman Powell believe:

• That ubiquitous broadband deployment is important to the economic,
  educational, social, medical, and cultural welfare of the country. In order
  to achieve this goal, national policies should facilitate rapid deployment
  of all broadband technologies, including BPL. Policymakers at all levels
  should coordinate their efforts to promote a minimally intrusive policy
  framework for such technologies.

• That the provision of high-speed communications
  capabilities over utility poles and electric power lines (access BPL)
  provides an opportunity to increase the competitive broadband choices that
  are available to customers and the power supply system management options of
  utilities.

• That access BPL may help provide additional power supply
  system communications and control capabilities to improve reliability and
  efficiency. Such capabilities include self-healing network capabilities;
  improved security from physical and cyber threats; facilitating use of
  distributed generation; customer and utility control of appliances and
  equipment energy use; improved load management and electric grid
  utilization; and such applications as automated meter reading, extension of
  supervisory control and data acquisition functions to the end-user level,
  outage detection, and equipment performance monitoring.

• That these services should be allowed to develop
  according to market demands with minimal regulation.

Therefore, Chairman Wood and Chairman Powell urge:

• Utilities to pursue new and developing technologies, such
  as BPL, that will foster greater customer options in broadband, provide more
  efficient management of the power supply system, and ensure increased
  operational reliability.

• Utilities to appropriately allocate revenues and costs
  related to new technologies, such as access BPL, between regulated and
  unregulated functions. In addition, Chairman Wood and Chairman Powell agree
  to: continue to encourage the development of new technologies that provide
  additional competitive broadband options, promote continued US leadership in
  broadband technology, and improve power supply system security, reliability,
  and efficiency.

• Monitoring the experience with Access BPL to ensure that
  existing regulations do not stifle the development of this nascent
  technology.

(Extracted from FERC press release, 14 October 2004)