A market study conducted by Falls Church, Va.-based research firm Telecom Trends International shows that broadband powerline communications is poised for rapid growth as access technology. With this technology, broadband signals are brought into buildings via the electricity power grid. The research firm believes that broadband powerline communications for access applications (BPL-Access)is well positioned to compete head-on with entrenched DSL and cable modem technologies for a share of the broadband access market. According to its recent report, “Broadband Powerline Communications: Ready for Take-Off,” the BPL-Access service is expected to achieve worldwide revenues of $4.4 billion by 2011.

According to this report, there were significant BPL-Access commercial roll-outs last year, and dozens of trials are currently underway on all continents. Many of these trials will evolve into commercial offerings, states the report. The report estimates that the BPL-Access services market generated $57.1 million in revenue worldwide in 2004, and projects that by 2011, BPL-Access will generate $4.4 billion in revenue worldwide.

The previous single-purpose electricity distribution system now has a new function, said Naqi Jaffery, president, Telecom Trends International, Inc. There are no longer any serious technical limitations to the deployment of BPL for high-speed Internet access, he said.

The report says that there is no global standard for BPL-Access--each vendor offers its own proprietary solution--but BPL-Access allows the use of existing infrastructure, which lowers the cost of deployment, allowing the provision of services at competitive prices. Jaffery said every household connected to the power grid can be offered BPL-Access service by the power utility in partnership with the appropriate vendor.

“As the grid becomes the so-called ‘third wire’ to the premises, the massive scale presented throughout the world will drive costs ever lower,” Jaffrey said.

This study also indicates that there will be a similar demand for indoor applications or BPL-Indoor. It will offer high end-user speeds, making the technology suitable for transmitting voice, video and data within premises.

BPL-Indoor derives its demand from home networking, noted Jaffery. With BPL-Indoor, every power outlet in a home becomes part of a high-speed data network without the need to install new wiring.

BPL-Access Service Revenue: 2004-2011

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