In what its proponents are billing as a "major U.S. technology milestone," the city of Manassas announced at a press conference last Wednesday that all 12,500 households and 2,500 businesses in the city now have a new option for Internet access.
The technology is called BPL, and it means broadband-over-power line. Manassas residents and businesses who choose to subscribe to the service will be able to access the Internet through a special modem that plugs directly into the power outlet without needing a separate jack like cable or DSL. BPL promoters are touting the service as a way to bring high-speed Internet to remote and rural areas. The critics say there are still a lot of challenges ahead.
BPL technology uses the electrical grid already in place in a city and the wiring in individual homes to provide direct broadband access to customers.
"The Manassas experiment is a good thing for every American who lives in any city or town with little or no access to affordable broadband," Joseph Fergus said. Fergus is the founder and CEO of Coles, the Chantilly-based company that will be acting as the BPL Internet service provider for the city of Manassas. According to Fergus, 700 Manassas clients have already signed up for the $29-a-month service and 500 more orders are on the way.
According to Manassas Mayor Douglas Waldron, the implementation of BPL service moved smoothly in Manassas because the city already had a fiber-optic element built into its power grid, so it wasn't necessary to dig trenches and overhaul the entire system.
Congressman Frank Wolf said, "Congress is looking closely at ways to improve broadband access in rural and other non-urban settings."
Wolf said he was hopeful that this same sort of access would help improve high-speed, low-cost Internet options in many more communities throughout the country, which would open up work-from-home options for a wider range of people.
However, this new technology is not necessarily an instant cure for remote and under-served areas.
The differences around the country in the way power systems are configured and the lack of an industry standard mean that many communities are still a long way from being able to implement this technology. Remote, rural, and poor areas — the same ones Wolf was talking about — would have the most work to do before they could use BPL.
Another question about BPL is whether it can provide as much bandwidth as cable and wireless. The Manassas experiment will help answer that question.
Karen Jackson, the vice president of broadband programs for the Commonwealth of Virginia, noted that opening reliable and affordable Internet options meant more than telecommuting. It meant increasing possibilities for distance education.
It will also allow local businesses to expand their markets beyond the neighborhood level. The ill and elderly could also use the system in conjunction with their health care providers to allow "diagnostic monitoring at the home level."
According to Jackson, the benefits of the partnership even reach beyond the paid Internet subscribers to all Manassas residents: the new network will help the power company find and resolve problems faster.
The move toward BPL in Manassas began in 2001 when the American Public Power Association provided a grant to the city to investigate the idea. In 2003, the city decided to proceed with full-scale deployment. Then last year, the City of Manassas selected COMTek as its BPL Internet provider.
"There is a value to an infrastructure," Jackson said. "But the true value is in what runs over it. It's such a pervasive technology, but everyone has to get up to speed."
"There's a lot of work that has to be done," Jackson said. "Make this a very vibrant infrastructure."