Power companies enter broadband market

The idea of offering high-speed Internet service to consumers over their power lines has been around for years in Europe, but the United States is just now catching on.
The New York Times

The story "Power companies enter broadband market" published October 16, 2005 at 9:25 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

Content from The New York Times expires after 7 days.

[nasser0000]

It's not clear what the speed is?

What speed does BPL offer? Since SBC is offering 1.5M at 14.95, I'm not sure why the family listed in the article has to pay so much.

[Stating]

Current vs. SBC

The SBC price of $14.95 is an introductory price, available only to new customers, and good for 12 months. After that the rate goes up. My SBC bill says that DSL Express costs $49.95, they give me a $35 credit. After 12 months I have no idea what the service will cost me, but I'm pretty sure it will be more than $14.95. In terms of the speed, my download is 1264 kbps. Upload speed is only 319 kbps, because this is ADSL.

Compare this to Current Communications. They offer symmetric service. Their upload speed blows the socks off SBC's ADSL. In terms of price, it is $26.95 for 1 Mbps, and $34.95 for 3 Mbps, with a 2 year signup.

I sure would like to have a choice of BPL, DSL, and cable. Right now DSL is the only cost effective broadband choice I have. Also, I wonder if BPL might be an option for cities like San Francisco that want to offer free or low cost Internet access to citizens. And it would be a piece of cake to deploy broadband to school classrooms, churches, libraries, etc. at very little cost. Seems that it would be cheaper to roll out than WiFi and gives better speed.

Per Current's website:
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.current.net/ServiceAndPricing/Residential/PricingAndBenefits/" target="_newWindow">http://www.current.net/ServiceAndPricing/Residential/PricingAndBenefits/</a>
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.current.net/LearnMore/Benefits/" target="_newWindow">http://www.current.net/LearnMore/Benefits/</a>
"You can even send and receive files faster than DSL. While cable and DSL services send e-mail and other files more slowly than they receive them, CURRENT Broadband® sends and receives data at the same high speed. So you can send graphic files, pictures, video files and more, faster than ever before!"

[nasser0000]

It's not clear what the speed is?

What speed does BPL offer? Since SBC is offering 1.5M at 14.95, I'm not sure why the family listed in the article has to pay so much.

[Stating]

Current vs. SBC

The SBC price of $14.95 is an introductory price, available only to new customers, and good for 12 months. After that the rate goes up. My SBC bill says that DSL Express costs $49.95, they give me a $35 credit. After 12 months I have no idea what the service will cost me, but I'm pretty sure it will be more than $14.95. In terms of the speed, my download is 1264 kbps. Upload speed is only 319 kbps, because this is ADSL.

Compare this to Current Communications. They offer symmetric service. Their upload speed blows the socks off SBC's ADSL. In terms of price, it is $26.95 for 1 Mbps, and $34.95 for 3 Mbps, with a 2 year signup.

I sure would like to have a choice of BPL, DSL, and cable. Right now DSL is the only cost effective broadband choice I have. Also, I wonder if BPL might be an option for cities like San Francisco that want to offer free or low cost Internet access to citizens. And it would be a piece of cake to deploy broadband to school classrooms, churches, libraries, etc. at very little cost. Seems that it would be cheaper to roll out than WiFi and gives better speed.

Per Current's website:
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.current.net/ServiceAndPricing/Residential/PricingAndBenefits/" target="_newWindow">http://www.current.net/ServiceAndPricing/Residential/PricingAndBenefits/</a>
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.current.net/LearnMore/Benefits/" target="_newWindow">http://www.current.net/LearnMore/Benefits/</a>
"You can even send and receive files faster than DSL. While cable and DSL services send e-mail and other files more slowly than they receive them, CURRENT Broadband® sends and receives data at the same high speed. So you can send graphic files, pictures, video files and more, faster than ever before!"