The Federal Communications Commission has decided to classify Broadband over Power Line (BPL) as an information service, putting it in the same class as DSL and cable. As a result, BPL will follow those two broadband services down the road to deregulation in hopes that it will encourage utilities to begin offering BPL service.
Its backers have seen BPL for some time as the next big hope for broadband. Last year, Google and Goldman Sachs invested almost $100 million in BPL provider Current Communications Group. Current offers BPL in the Cincinnati area with download speeds ranging from 512Kbps to 3.0Mbps, with the top speed running $39.95 per month.
