Thursday, February 5, 2004
Sault Ste. Marie Makes High-Speed Power Play: Internet Piped Over Electric Grid
Posted by Jason Dunn in "OFF-TOPIC" @ 06:00 PM
"Sault Ste. Marie, known largely as a northern Ontario steel town, is set to become the first municipality in Canada to offer residential high-speed Internet service through the power grid. Local energy supplier PUC Inc. hopes other hydro utilities will follow its lead and give cable and telephone companies a jolt of competition.
...This is appealing to hydro companies that are looking for new sources of revenue but don't want to invest heavily in new telecommunications facilities. Virtually every home and office is wired for electricity, so every building has the potential to access the Internet and other data services through medium-voltage power lines. Speed of service generally equals or exceeds cable and digital subscriber line (DSL) products."
The promise of high-speed networking over power lines has been talked about for at least five years, but this is one of the few implementations of this type that I've seen. Go Canada! :mrgreen: Do any of you live in an area where this type of Internet access is an option?
...This is appealing to hydro companies that are looking for new sources of revenue but don't want to invest heavily in new telecommunications facilities. Virtually every home and office is wired for electricity, so every building has the potential to access the Internet and other data services through medium-voltage power lines. Speed of service generally equals or exceeds cable and digital subscriber line (DSL) products."
The promise of high-speed networking over power lines has been talked about for at least five years, but this is one of the few implementations of this type that I've seen. Go Canada! :mrgreen: Do any of you live in an area where this type of Internet access is an option?
