[RFI] BPL alternatives

[Michael Keane, K1MK]

At 03:00 PM 8/15/03, WA2BPE wrote:

>The problem with the power companies is that they want their big $$$ NOW 
>rather than invest on fiber (to the curb, at least for now).

BPL relies totally upon the presence of fiber to the curb, or at least to 
the corner, for backhaul. BPL has an unrepeated range of a few hundred 
meters and only a few repeats can be tolerated before latency makes BPL 
non-competitive.

Between repeaters every 1/4 mile and bridges every transformer, BPL will 
involve a significant capital investment in new hardware even if the power 
company already has run fiber along its right-of-way. And that much more if 
it hasn't made the investment in fiber yet.

73,
Mike

Michael Keane K1MK
k1mk at alum.mit.edu