The year 2005 will mark the breakthrough of broadband over powerline technology in the US, claims the New Millennium Research Council.

The NMRC is a group of scholars and policy makers, aiming to "develop workable, real-world solutions to the issues and challenges confronting policymakers" in the fields of telecommunications and technology.

Due to interference issues, internet over powerlines test projects have been as abundant as they have been big failures. But there are some real world deployments now, notes the NMRC. Homes in sections of New York City as well as Manassas, Virginia are being hooked up to the internet through the power grid. The provider in Manassas already had to put 1,300 prospective customers on a waiting list.

Internet over the powerline might have to compete with cable and DSL connections, but those wires are getting used less and less. Copper phonelines are being cut in favour of mobile plans, and cable TV is losing ground to satellite, the NMRC point out. The power line in the future might very well become the only wire that still comes into the home from the outside.

Meanwhile NMRC conveniently leaves out the possibility that the WiMAX wireless technology in the future replaces wired internet altogether. But hey, they have a whitepaper to promote here. And in their defence, the surge of WiMAX seems all but certain.

25 Feb 2005