What is the genaral feeling in here about BPL

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ronniestander

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Since my previous post went a bit to far I thought maybe I'll start a new one.

Will BPL ever become a possibility in SA and does anyone think companies are looking in to this?
Wont this be a good option to go forward?
 
Its been tested for a few years successfully in various corners of the country.. its a technology that holds great promise, especially in SA as practically everyone has electricity.
 
I know that the infrastructure is in place, there have been newspaper reports from 2001 already that optic cable is being laid on power lines. Weather the SNO will be licensed soon is anyones guess
 
Same eskom, they have a huge fibre network they will be using along with the SNO, we just dont know yet if this is good or bad for us, will have to wait and see how they price their packages and what they have to offer.

One problem with BPL afaik the particular infrastructure eskom proposed ages ago was to utilise the 3rd wire on the power network at home. All new homes only come with 2 wires as result to cost savings last I heard.

Im not sure how that will be breached. The only problem really I see with infrastructure would be to get consumers to the allready available seperate network of eskom for instance, allreay interconnected all over SA atleast.
 
Well it seems we'll have to wait and see for that one - let's hope. Then maybe my debate about prices going down only with more population density will be a mooo point.

If anyone knows where one can find some good reading on how exactly the BPL technology works - it would be appretiated. I've googled it a month or so back, but nothing was to helpfull on how the technology, and infrastructure work.
 
Thx Stephan - that seems to explain some of it. It seems to be quite an interesting technology - lets hope more can make use of it.....
 
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i would love to see some tests of this in SA, Mad do u know if the tests where public? i assume not :(
 
If it works and is cost effective, bring it on. But in the long run I think the SNO will want to drive DSL where they can get it and maybe BPL in those area's that don't have telephone lines.
 
Well 99.8% of the country has electricity and only 10% have access to phone lines.. so no doubt getting BPL working 100% is a top priority. Bets on the table that the SNO will deploy wireless local loop.. they don't even need to use Telkom's network as they have *way* more potential connections in the form of a simple 3 prong plug.

Even if they just lay fibre next to large power lines and offer last mile as wireless they would still not need Telkom.. they have money to recoup for the tons of fibre they laid out which is going to waste so one would not expect crazy prices such as is the case with telkom.

The SNO has massive potential, much more so than Telkom who is now an ageing dinosaur - and still punting Diginet over ADSL.. lol.. holding onto anything they can.
 
People dont address real issues when it comes to BPL, and quite obviously the companies making the crap are punting it with media hype.

There are real issues that quite simply, can not be addressed.

1) BPL gives off masses of RF radiation which can for starters cause interferance with alot of critical services (like the time services in US as a very powerfull example on the link I posted). This radiation also means that there are large security concerns - and no, IPsec doesnt exactly cover it.

2) It isnt cheap!
Consider firstly the upgrades that would have to be performed on ZA's power grids, these are not Eskom's concern but are a national asset in 80% of the suburbs run by the municipality.
The equipment used isnt cheap either, and you need it every place that there is a transformer.

3) Its supposed to be supplied to hosues? Thats a bit of a problem since the domestic power grid does *not* not not not NOT NOT not not NOT not NOT not NOT! belong to Eskom or even run by Eskom. It belongs to the municipality as said above.

4) BPL is a hack solution, with many problems and extremely limited bandwidth when compared to far cheaper, and far more flexible products.

Really, I'm not going to say that the SNO or anyone should go out of their way to deliver broadband to remote locations when the people there have no economic demand. You speak with your wallet, and its a simple matter of business. The government should start with developing rural areas if thats what they want, in a free market business will then filter in there to offer services.

Wireless is a better, cheaper and easier to roll out technology for low bandwith long-haul links.
 
Considering Eskoms infrastructure, I don't think they're talking about it over the HT cable, why the hell would you when you;ve got fibre running with them?

BPL would be an alternative "Local Loop" till you hit the substation and route onto fibre.

Even if it is owned by the municipalty, Eskom drives the technology. If they say lets to BB I can't see any reason for them to object.
 
Wasn't Eskom selling

Wasn't Eskom selling their shares in the SNO? Or am I thinking of Transtel... anyone know that story?
 
I don't know if BPL is really going to be a cost effective solution, however I do not buy into the hysteria about BPL interference. Yes, BPL is noisy, but so are microwaves, arc welders and many other pieces of equipment in everyday use, you will also notice it mostly seems one small group of people moaning, the HAM operators.

The most common pro HAM stories are those that involve disasters of some sort where other communication services have failed, they seem to completely ignore the fact that during these times BPL would be offline and hence not be causing interference. If disaster communication was really a big concern I personally would rather use satellite phones, they are much more portable, consume less power and easier to operate.

I don’t really think BPL is going to happen, its cheaper to just use wireless.
 
perhaps the general public lacks the understanding of the equipment used in ham radio - those spectrum analyser vids blew me away. The BPL noise they are complaining about spreads over the *entire* electromagnetic LF, HF, VHF band at -50dBm in some cases. In comparison, my wireless link runs (well) at -78 or so dBm. If you actualy looked at the videos on the ARRP website, the supporters of their initiative are far more than just ham radio.

BPL would be an alternative "Local Loop" till you hit the substation and route onto fibre.
Click to expand...

Please READ my post
 
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