A longtime supporter of BPL-enabled Internet, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said the regulatory change would benefit consumers by encouraging increased competition in the ISP market.
“With today’s order the Commission takes another important step to promote the deployment of broadband infrastructure,” Martin said. “Specifically, by finding that BPL-enabled Internet access services are information services, the Commission provides the regulatory certainty necessary to foster competition between different broadband platform providers.”
According to FCC data on BPL-enabled Internet, utility companies — clustered mostly in the Northeast — provided less than 6,000 customers with Internet service over power lines as of 2005. Most of the companies offer BPL-enabled Internet on a trial basis as a way to provide a smart network monitoring solution.
In other words, few utility companies looked at BPL-enabled Internet under the old regulatory regime as an entry point into the residential broadband business.
The FCC’s decision does away with the biggest barrier to BPL-enabled Internet as a commercially viable business for utility companies, Eric Bangeman of ArsTechnica said.
“The biggest problem is skepticism on the part of the utilities that BPL deployments are worthwhile endeavors,” Bangeman said. “Even though BPL-enabled Internet can use existing infrastructure, there is still a significant investment in equipment and personnel required in order to get the service up and running.”
Last year, Google teamed with investment bank Goldman Sachs in funding BPL-enabled Internet provider Current Communications Group with $100 million in anticipation of the FCC regulatory change.
Current Communications Group offers BPL-enabled Internet service in and around Cincinnati, Ohio for $39.95 per month. Download speeds range from 512Kbps to 3.0Mbps.
“It is my hope that these actions will promote the growth and competitiveness of this service,” Martin said. “By encouraging the development of new technologies, such as BPL-enabled Internet, we can best achieve the President’s goal of universal broadband by the end of 2007.”