Home networks research specialist Parks Associates thinks that broadband over Power Line is ready to outpace the rate at which cable and DSL sell in the US, especially in rural areas.
Parks says the number of US households subscribing to broadband over power line (BPL) services will increase from 400,000 in 2007 to 2.5 million by 2011.
‘Both consumer demand and business factors will drive this growth,’ said Chris Roden, research analyst at Parks Associates. ‘On the consumer side, many rural residents don’t have access to DSL or cable, but every house in the US has access to power lines. This technology is often the only option for these residents to receive broadband service. On the business side, utility companies will also drive BPL’s growth. BPL gives utilities more information to better manage power demand and troubleshoot line issues.’
All this is true, but last year we went on a tour of the US speaking to a few of the powerline specialists there and most of their big business dealings ere focused on overseas deployments, because the US power companies were so hard to deal with, burdened down with risk averse management. Perhaps its changed in a year, but we doubt it.