Apparently Hydro Quebec thinks it is possible:
A CBC Ottawa unlinkable story Last Updated | Nov 24 2003 10:35 AM ESTApparently there have been meeting and conferences and stuff according to Wired last June. Neat-o. Two years ago the same idea was presented by Wired as being a magnificent scam. Neater-o. A year and a half earlier it was an early part of the Nortel bubble. Neatest-o.Hydro-Québec to test internet over power lines
MONTREAL - Hydro-Québec is planning to offer high-speed internet service over its power lines to compete with similar services from cable and telephone companies. The utility already uses signals over its power lines to control stoplights, but now it wants to adapt it to offer internet access. Some experts say such a service could be up to five times faster than high-speed cable internet service.Jim Carroll, author of "Surviving the Information Age," said the addition of the new service could be great for consumers. "If we have that many participants in the broadband marketplace then the real impact is perhaps it's going to help to keep prices down or drive down the monthly price," said Carroll.
I'd like to know what has changed. More from the unlinkable CBC Ottawa story:
German utilities company RWE started offering Internet service over power lines the summer of 2001, and Swedish company Sydkraft also offers the service. Canadian tech company Nortel ran tests of the technology in Britain in the late 1990s and concluded that it would be far too expensive to adapt power grids to carry internet signals. Hydro-Québec said it will start testing the service in January and hopes to offer the service in a few years.
[Later: here is the link via CBC Montreal. Dead, too.]
Comments
Will - November 25, 2003 4:00 am
I vaguely recall watching a Discovery Channel short on the same thing. I hope they can make the leap from vaporware to reality.
Alan - January 7, 2004 2:11 pm
Ottawa wants in too, now.