Have they actually had a successful BPL implementation here in the US? It seems like every time I hear about one, there are a ton of radio interference complaints in the area.

They have it here in Cincinnati. I don't know anybody who actually uses it though. I've toyed with the idea myself but I'd rather wait and let the tehcnology mature more.

Stop teasing me. The idea of being freed of Ma Bell and Time Warner is almost too much
*swooning*

I am testing it in Dallas and I can tell you the broadband is awesome. I am getting 12mb/s download and 9-10 mb/s upload. The thought of having to go back to cable would make me cry. I also just started testing the voip and it still has a bit of work to get it up to primetime though.

I know they are testing this in the Houston area successfully. Still, it has not been met with an amazing response. The company that is testing it in Houston offered it free of charge to a few neighborhoods, and got an amazing 30% adoption rate. Can you imagine offering your product for free (let alone broadband internet) and having 70% of the people turn you down? The product may be fine, but unless this product can reach a set of people that do not have access to broadband internet today, it is not going to be very successful.

This is not good. The Amateur Radio community has been fighting BPL for several years now. The problem is that BPL puts out a LOT of radio interference. You might think that only matters to Ham's... but your cell phone, your wireless internet, your cordless phones, your garage door opener, and various remote controls ALL run on radio frequencies. And something as noisy as BPL could really affect all of us in a lot of ways.

The promise of BPL is great... but until they completely solve the RFI issue... it's a no starter in my book.

@monty

Yes, there are people that don't have access to broadband today. Once you get outside the big cities, you don't have to travel far to find households without cable or DSL.

And to be fair, if someone offered me access to free "untested" tech, I'd be skeptical, too.

Heck, I get interference on my tv when I run my paper shredder. And they're not even in the same room. Or on the same circuit...

Bottom line: I hope they succeed. But remember, not everyone is going to be an early adopter. [If they offered, I would probably sign up, though... Down with monopolies!]

It'll be considerably easier to get the internet connection going because the speed that electricity goes compared to a phone is a lot faster. and like that person said @Geoffrey: It is a lot faster. I mean im just upgrading to cable cuz DSL is too slow. Verizon Fios is outdated because of the fact that most cable companies have been using that for a while now.
So seriously i think that this will be good. Plus i cant wait to see what this'll do on a torrent sharing program.
I'd love to see my upload speed go to 9mb/s
I would be in shock.

There's plenty of BPL tech that doesn't interfere with communications in the rest of the world, as well (Motorola has demonstrated one version). It's only one particularly crappy implementation that's undergoing trials that does it (actually, most of the initial implementations).

More mature versions of BPL don't interfere (aside from the units made by the crappy BPL implementations). Alas, the FCC has decided that interfering with world communications, aviation, military, hobby, emergency, TV, radio, and nautical users is the way to go (note - all these users are licensed) and approved the crappy BPL (an unlicensed service) implementation.

IDEAMAN2020:
Would you really turn it down? If someone offered me free high-speed net access, I'd sign up in a second. I'd keep dsl/cable for the first few months, in case the network was unreliable, but if I didn't have to reroute my connection more than once a month, I'd drop my current provider in a heart beat. The only reason I can think people turned it down is if there was a catch (free for the first 6 months, then $x for 24 months). If that's not the case, the sales people trying to "sell" this are the worst sales people in the whole world.

Lived in Lithuania for awhile and new service called Zebra stated to offer an internet cable service with 10 m/bs DL and 10 m/bs UL for free the first year if you bought cable tv and signed a contract for 36 months. Cost of internet after the first year was the same as cable about $20 each. Of course I signed up!!!!

@crash

No, I would not turn it down. "If they offered, I would probably sign up"

I just said not everyone will be an early adopter... There will be cynics waiting for the catch or worry-warts afraid this stuff will burn the house down...

It just happens that I'm not one of them. [To be fair, I did say I would be skeptical. Doesn't mean I wouldn't be willing to try, though.]

@brichardson:
You know whats also not good? The GD radio station that interferes with my landline/DSL. On the upside, I get the latest Country hits crystal clear on my corded phone.

Been done already. Ibec has markets with a few co-ops, and they're testing radio-based net in alabama (woo!)

While BPL may be of particular interest in regards to access in remote areas and cost the fact is that the technology converts many miles of powerline into one large transmitting antenna.This is just filthy technology, Similiar to standing next to a homeless person who has not bathed in weeks.