Broadband over Powerline (BPL) in Rural Areas

I was reading this article in Internet Evolution and learn about iBEC. iBEC leverages on existing power distribution grids covering 75% of the total US land and is offering broadband internet, remote surveillance and security services over power lines in US rural areas. Another nice thing to know is that IBM announced a $9.6 millions agreement with iBEC to provide overall project management, oversight, and training of the line crews who will be installing the BPL equipment. iBEC lines up with several other businesses offering BPL in US and Europe. Here’s a good resource to check out more BPL developments worldwide.

Although BPL (how it works?) have rarely been considered in direct competition with “traditional” broadband solutions (due to both cost and quality issues) it seems an attractive offering in areas where any form of broadband is absent.

On the downside, BPL is priced outrageously high compared to DSL (i.e. $90/month for a 1Mbps residential connection). I guess that’s part of the price you pay when you choose a sustainable way of living for you and your familly… Or is it not?