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Witness Testimony
Mr. Jay Birnbaum
Competition in the Communications Marketplace: How Convergence Is Blurring the Lines Between Voice, Video, and Data Services
On behalf of Current Communications Group I am pleased to introduce to the Subcommittee the latest broadband technology to revolutionize the way Americans can communicate: Broadband over Power Lines, or "BPL." BPL is now furthering the ongoing convergence of data, voice, and video services by offering consumers a third alternative for broadband access. Much the way other broadband technologies use the existing telephone and cable television infrastructure to provide broadband services, BPL converts the electric distribution network into a broadband super highway. ? Current Communications Group has developed a proprietary, safe means of using the electric distribution network to provide data, voice, and video communications services. By installing its BPL equipment on an electric grid, Current transforms the electric network into a robust communications network that offers customers speeds much faster than that available from DSL and cable modem systems today. Specifically, Current's customers can enjoy always on, broadband speeds up to four megabits or more at every outlet in their home or business. Moreover, whereas DSL and cable modem are largely asymmetrical in nature - that is their advertised "download" speeds are much faster than the speeds at which consumers can actually send data, pictures, or video - BPL offers the same fast speed whether one is sending or receiving information. This means consumers can send pictures, videos and other large files and play on-line games much more effectively. Although BPL is not conceptually new, commercially speaking it is in its infancy. Current and the Cinergy Corporation recently announced the first commercial deployment of the BPL in the United States. Although the commercial deployment has only recently begun, together the Current-Cinergy joint venture plans to enable several hundred thousand homes in Cinergy's electric service territory during the next three years. In addition, Current and Cinergy have created a second venture to market and deliver Current's BPL technology to small municipal-owned and rural cooperative electric utilities throughout the country. Because electricity lines run into virtually every room of every home and business, BPL can deliver broadband to many areas where cable or DSL simply cannot reach, or cannot reach economically. In fact, BPL married with broadband satellite can be a powerful force to serve rural areas. The Cincinnati commercial roll-out follows two year-long trial deployments of Current's technology, one in Cincinnati, Ohio with Cinergy and the other with Potomac Electric Power, or Pepco, in suburban Maryland just outside the Washington, D.C. Beltway. These trials included more than 200 hundred customers, including both residences and small businesses. The trials also confirmed the robust nature of BPL and elicited strong customer satisfaction and desire for commercial BPL service in areas where cable modem and DSL service were already widely available. Through BPL customers can enjoy robust broadband data speeds at virtually every outlet in their home or business. This summer Current will also begin offering voice telephony service over its BPL network using Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP. Current's broadband Internet access offering will in many cases be a consumer's first and only choice to participate in the broadband revolution, since cable modem and DSL are not available everywhere. Indeed, according to one recent study more than 87 million American homes still do not use broadband, remaining relegated to dial-up access or no access at all. At a minimum, however, BPL will afford consumers another broadband outlet with features and price points better suited to the way Americans really want to "Surf the Net." Similarly, Current's full VoIP service will often be a consumer's only alternative to second and third line local voice service. As far as video, existing iterations of BPL technology and service already support high quality video streaming over the Internet. Current's BPL technology, for instance, actually enables users to send and receive video, whether it be in the form of real-time, on-line games or home movies downloaded from a camcorder, faster than other broadband technologies. Next-generation BPL technologies will offer users speeds in excess of 50 megabits, paving the way for true digital quality video programming, such as video on demand, within the next two years. So how does BPL work? From a consumer standpoint, Current's BPL solution is simple to use. The customer plugs a small, off-the-shelf, inexpensive "powerline" modem into any wall outlet in the home or business. That modem easily connects to a user's computer via a standard USB or Ethernet cord, or even using a wireless fidelity, or "WiFi," connection. The customer need do nothing further other than register on-line for service much the way he or she would register for any other Internet-based service. Literally in a matter of minutes the customer is surfing the Internet without the need for a technician's visit. A signal from the consumer's computer travels the through the consumer's powerline modem, over the 120 volt premises wiring and "low voltage" electricity wire outside the home or business toward the utility company's "step-down" transformer. The utility uses transformers to convert the medium voltage (e.g., 10,000 or more volts) electricity that runs down the street from one of its distribution substations to the 120 volts that can safely come into homes and businesses. Because the medium voltage lines carry such high voltages and because the step-down transformer also tends to block any BPL signals on the power lines, sending BPL signals along such wires and past transformers historically had been difficult. But at each transformer Current installs its proprietary BPL equipment, which enables Current safely to "bypass" the transformer and send BPL signals to and from the low and medium voltage lines. This enables us to form a single, integrated communications path on the electricity wires while preserving the integrity of the electricity network. Once on the medium voltage line the BPL signals travel down the wires to an aggregation point, where Current's equipment again safely extracts the BPL signal from the medium voltage wires. Current's equipment then converts the BPL signals into traditional communications packets and sent along fiber, wireless, or other means to reach the Internet, a voice telephony network, or some other network. Communications traffic headed to a customer from the Internet, voice telephony network, or video content server simply travels the reverse path. Finally, BPL is not just a consumer application. By effectively overlaying a communications network on the electric distribution grid BPL enables electric utilities to improve the safety, reliability, and efficiency of their networks. Once installed, BPL technology enables a utility to engage in power outage and restoration detection on an automated basis, rather than waiting for consumers to call and begin a process whereby the utility must dispatch crews for a painstaking seek and restore operation. Similarly, BPL equipment can communicate with utility equipment such as specially designed IP-enabled meters and switches to offer automated meter reading, time-of-day pricing, load management, demand side management, and remote monitoring and operability of the local electric distribution system. The desire for a more efficient and reliable network is a key driver for utility companies seeking to deploy BPL in their territories. Given the post 9/11 world, the better our critical infrastructure is monitored and maintained, the better utilities and others can avoid or respond to unforeseen events. Even last year's August Blackout and Hurricane Isabel revealed the vulnerability of the electric distribution network, a condition upon which BPL can certainly improve. Related Documents |
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