[ale] Networking with power lines??

[Patrick W. Jones]

Not really that strange.  They have been working on this
for a few years now.  It is just recently that someone
has actually offered it publicly.  There has been much
debate over this issue - the power company, cable, and
even the phone company offering all the same services.
The nice thing about it is that you would be able to get
all of your services from one company.

> Hey, saw this today -- pretty strange
> 
> October 8, 1997
> Canada's Northern Telecom (Nortel) and Britain's Norweb Communications
> today unveiled new technology allowing reliable, low-cost, high-speed
> access to the Internet through the domestic electricity supply.
> 
> In a move heralding the first competition between electricity companies
> and telecommunications carriers, the two groups said their patented
> technology would allow power firms to convert their infrastructures
> into information access networks.
> 
> Having reduced electrical interference on power lines, the companies
> said they could shunt data--and possibly voice--over power lines into
> the home at up to 1MB per second.
> 
> This is up to ten times faster than ISDN, the fastest currently
> available speed for domestic computer users.  Although it is slower
> than rival ADSL technology being developed by British
> Telecommunications, which upgrades copper wires, Norweb and Nortel's
> technology is much cheaper for operators to install.
> 
> The rest of the story's at:
> http://www.pcworld.com/news/daily/data/1097/971008155629.html
> -- 
>   Joe Morris, SysAdmin and Not Insane
>   "Honey, they're in *everybody's* eggs"  --firesigns
> 
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Why do kamikaze pilots wear helmets?


Patrick Jones
Newcomb & Boyd
pwj at newcomb-boyd.com