“Bill Smith, 38 year old mechanic was found dead in his house in Manchester, UK. A neighbor reported after seeing the sparks coming out of the window. Mr. Smith  who was chatting with his friend on the internet last night, died due to a high voltage which passed on his broadband cable. His wife reported that she was sleeping after dinner. She came running after a loud cry from her husband.  It was found that the house experienced fluctuation of power due to rain and a high voltage passed on the modem while he was attempting to adjust the internet connection. “This is the 3rd accident that has happened this year and we are under thorough investigation to identify the root cause” the police said. Mrs. Smith has filed a case against the broadband company for a compensation and to take necessary actions in identifying the root cause for the problem. – Reported a UK daily newspaper. 10 Oct 20**.

But how did the power supply get in to the internet line? Yes that’s the invention yet waiting for approval of standards. Don’t worry no one is dead with the internet. **The above said news is just an imagination, do not take is seriously.

A common electric outlet might be a path for your broadband connection in the future. Broadband has been coming out with different emerging trends like satellite broadband, mobile broadband, broadband gaming and now its time for broadband over power lines(BPL). BPL is a broadband technology that is developed by Current Communications Group and Enikia along with power companies like Ameren and EPRI to get it off ground. It has been tested in many cities of the United states and United Kingdom, but still awaiting FCC and IEEE’s approval for standards.  AC power was used for data transmission by the electric companies to monitor the performance of power grids. But the method was simple and relatively slow.

We know that the phone companies haven’t laid enough fiber optic lines to facilitate all the users for a broadband service. But this is not the case of electric lines. Power from the power plant reaches the transmission sub station and then distributed to high voltage transmission lines. The first obstacle for the data traveling are, these high voltage lines (155,000 to 765,000 volts) which can drop or damage the data since its too noisy. BPL bypasses the issue by not using the high voltage power lines. Instead the data is transmitted through medium voltage power lines (7200 volts). Repeaters are installed at safer distance where there are chances for the data to drop down. Then a CT coupler is installed which by passes the transformers and converts the medium voltage of 7200v to 240v which can work in a normal household service. After reaching the CT coupler or the bridge, the data can be transmitted either through electric cables or wireless. After reaching the wall outlet a BPL modem is used to convert data using a specially developed modulation technique and sends to the computer. This modem handles power line noise at a wider spectrum.

Even though the broadband on power line technology seems to be innovative, it receives heavy opposition from American Radio Relay League (ARRL) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Both continue to say that BPL will cause severe interference issues. BPL said those issues have been solved, but the ARRL was not ready to give ears. So BPL is hoping  for slow progression. Broadband service over the power line would reach almost everyone who struggle with a dial up or have no connection. Do we have an unlimited usage on that? Caution: Electricity Bills?!?!?