New York about to get all into broadband over power lines

Well, that was fast. Never underestimate the entrepreneurs of New York; not days after the FCC announced its rulings on BPL (broadband over powerlines) and FTTH (fiber to the home) has ConEd and Earthlink announced, in conjunction with Ambient, their new preliminary test program for power line Internet access at a building in the Upper West Side. The building's residents shouldn't expect more than DSL speeds to start, but they'll be among the only ones in America being offered such as service, and speeds are only going to get faster in the future. Now if only we could somehow find some affordable housing that isn't a windowless basement (and while we're at it, how about some decent burritos?) on that tiny island, we might be set, right?

[Bryan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

I am currently in Turkey on business, staying in a Hilton. Much to my suprise, they offer BPL here! Is this becoming more of a common thing for hotels now? I've seen them hook up a cable modem and stuff before, but never BPL. I am very impressed with the speed. It is 10 bucks per day, and you have to put a 350USD deposit down on the box.

[Walter @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

In it's current state BPL will never work because it can be interfered with by anyone with a CB radio, legally.

Not to mention law enforcemen, military, government and amateur radio operators who can legally interfer with it as they conduct normal broadcasting.

Also BPL interferes with HDTV reception and also the reception of signals on bands used by the above mentioned parties.

It has been outlawed in Japan and several other foreign countries. BPL trials in other parts of the US have been shut down due to interference.

I feel sorry for the folks who invest in this NYC BPL scheme.

Then again, I hope it serves to fix the intereference problems, BPL sounds really cool.. but in practice, right now, its a losing proposition.

[zack @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

Blockheads has pretty decent burritos

http://www.menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?neighborhoodid=0&restaurantid=3152

[Walter @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

Just because TheZodiac asked in another thread, here's all the proof you need about HDTV interfering with and its capability to be interfered with:

First a quot from the Montana Highway Patrol
"The overall effect of BPL implementation will be a potentially significant increase in the noise floor, which will render impossible otherwise acceptable mission critical public safety communications."
http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6516182881

Next a quote from a company called ShipCom
"There is no justification to unnecessarily risking the lives of mariners, passenger and aircraft crews and rescue personal in the name of rushing for BPL approval."
http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6516185627

Even more here: http://www.gobpl.com/index.html

And don't forget howstuffworks
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/bpl6.htm

I could go on and on. BPL is DOA.

[Ryan Edwards @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

all the best burritos are to be found in Brooklyn, dawg!

[David Moisan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

One concern I expressed to the FCC over BPL last year was about possible self-interference if BPL signals were sent to a dense neighborhood. I had concerns in my small city of 40,000, never mind Manhattan. Self-interference means at best limited bandwidth (some plans I have heard of delivered 256 kbps or even less to each house), and at worst, extreme security issues (if they are naive and not using SSL or VPN, if they use them, it's a bandwidth hit, too.)

I'm looking forward to see what happens, but I think, like the other commenters, that it will fall down and go boom.