DirecTV to offer broadband over powerline this year

Just as the company's CEO hinted at this past spring, DirecTV will indeed begin offering service bundles that include broadband over powerline, with the Maryland-based Current Group opening up access to its Dallas / Fort Worth BPL network starting at the end of the year. This tie-up is the latest move by the satellite company -- following June's deal with Clearwire -- to strengthen its ability to offer high-speed internet, putting it in a better position to compete with the attractive triple- and even quad-play bundles being touted by cable providers and telcos. It also follows DirecTV's failure to secure any of its own spectrum in last years FCC auction, as you'll recall. Current has stated that as its network grows out beyond Texas, the agreement between the two firms allows DirecTV to market to those customers as well.

[Via MarketWatch]

[Derek Nelson @ Apr 11th 2008 5:18PM]

This is a very nerdy bunch of comments.

[mickel1138 @ Aug 15th 2007 8:59AM]

Insane! Unacceptable!

Stop using distribution networks what they are not ment for!
Besides it MAYOR interference with the Amateur Radio Service,
people are getting a loosy deal, poor quality and nothing new.

Say NO to these cheapos who want to leach every transmission line, after the phone and cable lines, now it's power. What's next, water and gas lines. Google wasn't that stupid when suggestion broadband over sewer lines, but instead just run fiber through it.

Instead of reusing junk, start putting in fiber everywhere. Most all of Europe has fiber to any commercial building and residence, but here we are TOO cheap.

When will someone do it right, stop making a mess. It's simple, power over copper, everything else over fiber!

[loki @ Aug 15th 2007 9:16AM]

So how much profit is there in running fiber out to the country side, areas where the population is less than 5000? I think this is a great solution for their customer base.

[Rob @ Aug 15th 2007 9:29AM]

Whoa there buddy, Europe is NOT America. They have a much denser population than we do here in America. It's probably just not economically feasible to run fiber optics all over the place here, when you're talking about places like Texas.

Now, the urban and metropolitan areas, that's a different story, we should have had fiber optic broadband across the northeast by now, I will agree with you there...

[Eric @ Aug 15th 2007 9:45AM]

@Loki

What profit is there in running 4+ lane roads all over the country, to populations less than 5000? None? Well, then maybe there's a reason for the government to do it. I'm not saying we should, but there's a solution that is never talked about in the telecom world, even though there's a lot of precedent for it.

[oshean @ Aug 15th 2007 11:58AM]

Fiber already runs through the sewer lines.

[David G. @ Aug 15th 2007 1:31PM]

Seriously people, BPL is BAD news for EVERYONE. It's bad For amateur radio operators, it's bad for shortwave radio listeners or am radio listeners, it's bad for people who want their lives saved during/after a natural disaster but now can't because the rf spectrum is now to polluted to have the Amateur Radio Emergency Service come and help you. BTW your cellphone and land line phone won't work because THEY'RE overloaded with traffic but our radios will never have that happen to them. And if you think that the Amateur Radio Emergency Service is irrelevant than go to Wikipedia or Google and read up on them. You'll like what you see. Disclaimer- I'm a Amateur Radio Operator.

[mrkbrks @ Jan 25th 2008 11:17AM]

I live in a rural area. Around 35 houses. There is fiber optic copper wire across the street from me and a hub or switch about a mile away. Is there any reason that ATT couldn't run dsl to my house? I have satellite now and its not the solution but better than dial up.

[Jerome @ Aug 15th 2007 9:12AM]

well said mickel1138! LOLL

In Europe it is like that! They have Internet over poweline and like mickel1138 said, they use A LOT of fiber optic!

Imagine all the electric NOISE!

Big power line = BIG ANTENNA!



Jerome

[Andy @ Aug 15th 2007 9:14AM]

OMG they're using PHONE LINES for the INTERNET. When will the insane madness end?!?!?!1

[Zenshai @ Aug 15th 2007 9:31AM]

Phone line is not the same as power line, though i dont really see the drawbacks other than possibly low speeds (otherwise there would be other powerline bb out there) for the customers.

[Andy @ Aug 15th 2007 9:44AM]

I get that, Zenshai, I'm just illustrating how ignorant the first post is...

[David @ Aug 15th 2007 11:43AM]

A common misconception is that this is a cheap way to get broadband out to rural areas. What you rarely see mentioned is that you can just plug one end of the power grid into the Internet "source" and have Internet access all the way. BPL requires "repeaters" every so often, and those are not inexpensive. So let's say that your town of 5000 is 20 or 30 miles from the next nearest town. I seem to recall that you need a repeater every 1 or 3 miles. Who pays for the repeaters? The people getting the service at the end? Well, if they do that, it's no longer cheap. (We're not talking about $40 Linksys routers). If the people at the end of the line don't pay, then the cost gets spread to everyone else.

[Bill @ Aug 15th 2007 10:00AM]

I'll take broadband any way I can get it.

Via phone lines, cable coax, power lines, municipal WiFi, WiMax, cellular, etc.

[mickel1138 @ Aug 15th 2007 10:09AM]

If you can run a power line somewhere, you can run the fiber optic cable to it too. And are we just concerned about profit? I don't want to appear right-wing here, but it all revolves around getting the most money out of the least amount of effort. These companies make lots of money, they can afford fiber. Most rural area's POTS lines too right? So when you build, put fiber, not copper.

The main point for me is that BPL wil interfere with a lot of communication devices, mainly Amateur Radio. And being one, I have to defend that point!

And yes ha ha, internet of phone-lines, ADSL came at a time when other broadband options were not there. But the spectrums for both DSL and Cable internet for narrow. And these are already ment to transport some kind of signal. For to make powerlines usefull, we are talking 100 times the frequency spectrum (bandwidth) all which make noise and can produce spurious signals that interfere.

Still today, new buildings and houses hardly get fiber. If they start using it, it gets cheaper.

Thanks Jerome, that's kinda to idea.

[hooksalot @ Aug 15th 2007 11:16AM]

Yes it is all about the money. DO you understand the cost of running fiber, especially to rural areas? If you want fiber run to rural areas and every where else just ask the government to raise our taxes and take care of it their selves. Otherwise companies understand what is profitable and what is not. They are not going to run fiber until they know they can see a profit. Capitalism 101 people. If you think it can be done then get the backing and do it, but I think you will find it very expensive with little return on the investment for many years to come because of the price you would have to charge for service. Unless the government steps in and runs the cable and then gives access to all who want it, (never going to happen), fiber is a long way from being standard in this county.

[andy @ Aug 15th 2007 11:25AM]

Do you know your right from your left?

Right wing says let companies make their deals and do whatever they like as long as it doesn't harm anyone else. That is, free market competition will improve everything.

Left wing says lets dictate to the evil corporations what they can and can't do. That is, government regulation will improve everything.



I think you're watching too much TV which causes you to confuse "right wing" with "evil demented people intent on the oppression of the people and the destruction of the world as we the TV reporters think it should be."

[ypod @ Aug 15th 2007 10:15AM]

In Australia, we have broadband transmitted by kangaroo.

[alphaod @ Aug 15th 2007 11:43AM]

That has got to be the best method.

[Warhorse @ Aug 15th 2007 4:37PM]

So is that calculated in HPS? (Hops per second... sorry, couldn't resist.)

[nntpgrip @ Aug 15th 2007 11:00AM]

@ypod

The latency must be horrible.

Also must be a pain in the ass getting the thumb drive out of their pouches.

[ohmygod @ Aug 15th 2007 11:24AM]

Comcast will soon offer power over cable. It's technically a trivial matter and it's current limitation will reduce power consumption in the US by 1 billion megawatts. The outer braid is already connected to your service entry box. Go look!

[Almack64 @ Aug 15th 2007 12:46PM]

Now that's an interesting utility

[Aaron @ Aug 15th 2007 11:21AM]

Broadband? Hahahahahaha... I turn off the TV every time I see one of their bullshit "high-speed internet by satellite" ads. I hate them. I had DirecWay for awhile (now they call it Hughes Net, probably due to their horrid reputation) and it was the worst thing I have ever seen. It was slow as hell, didn't work at all most of the time, added a NAT layer which effectively disabled lots of different legitimate things, AND if you downloaded "too much" (something around 300 MB, probably less now) then your service pretty much got shut off for at least -- AT LEAST -- half a day. I can't say enough bad things about these assholes. I wouldn't trust anything they did for the rest of my life, even if it did come through a different medium, like the power lines.

[DP @ Aug 16th 2007 11:54PM]

i must a agree whole heartedly hugesnet is the worst!!! i can't wait for broadband over power lines!!!!!

[Dr Buzz0 @ Aug 15th 2007 11:26AM]

Interfere with the Amateur Radio Service? Try interfere with EVERYTHING. BPL is a dumb idea and always was. They are trying to pump high frequency signals through a completely unshielded, unbalanced, highly impedance-mismatched system. It's full of inductive loads and designed for heavy loads and power distribution.

It would be like the cable company switching from coaxial cable to coat hangers stuck together with aluminum foil. It's just stupid. It leaks more than Dick Cheney's office.

[David @ Aug 15th 2007 11:48AM]

Oops, I should have said you CAN'T just plug in to one end ...

[fraggle_rocker @ Aug 15th 2007 12:35PM]

People in metropolitan areas should not take a hit because it is unprofitable to run a line out to some towns. it should be done out of the tax taken from telecommunications company's, if the government runs a fibre line out to a town of 5000, and lets say 10% of them decide to get broadband.

so 500 people get broadband, are paying 15 dolloars, the government gets lets say 1 dollar from tax, so 500 dollars a month, or 6 grand a year.. then there would be the extra taxes from stuff bought online, delivery charges etc etc from the people, local business selling across the world etc etc..

Now think about all the little towns all over the place that the government could be getting an extra 6 thousand a year out of, and it starts to add up to a lot of money.

They would have to take minimum hit on tax for minimum amount of time.

Problem is, the government would rather companies do it and charge people for it, they spend nothing and still make bundles for their war on terror/oil prices.

[Richard @ Aug 15th 2007 3:02PM]

As another young man here with a ham radio ticket (in two countries, both at the highest levels available), I feel the need to chime in as well.

BPL is BAAAAAAD news. It does pollute the spectrum, and not necessarily only the amateur component.

True, BPL providers, with enough care and technical knowledge can "notch filter" some of those frequencies so they remain clear, but throughout the country, for years, BPL providers have shown they neither care nor have the technical knowledge to prevent spillage into allocated users of the spectrum.

Now, this isn't to say there aren't technologies out there that can provide BPL with minimal or negligible effect to the spectrum. But installations of such systems are few and far between.

Of course, the FCC seems to really not care too much about their own regulations, and does very little (if anything) to force these spectrum polluters to shape up or shut down. It's just more quasi-judicial government bodies cowtowing to the mighty corporations and their dollars.

It's sad.

But I'll tell you this: I *GUARANTEE* if BPL becomes widespread, and continues to provide substantial interference to HF operations, less than scrupulous hams *will* find those repeaters and pump them so full of RF that they'll never work properly. If I'm sitting in a vehicle and pumping a few hundred Watts (hell, we can use around 2kW if we want to) into one of those boxes, service *will* be disrupted. And that will increase technical support calls ("Why is my internet not working!"), and force customers away.

Don't fuck around, BPL people. Hams aren't people to take lightly... most of us are bitter, old and have nothing better to do than to show you young whippersnappers how much of an influence ham radio still is.

They (we) understand the technology as well, or better, than you do.

We'll take you down. Take you down to Chinatown.

[pb1 @ Aug 16th 2007 12:40AM]

Stop being so damn politcally correct and use your intellect if you want proper broadband services.

[Japhy @ Aug 16th 2007 11:22PM]

Damn.. I kind of want to see this happen just for the uprising of bitter Ham operators.