Internet Access Via Power Lines — A Further Development

A previous issue of E-TIPSâ„¢ (Vol 3, No 10, October 27, 2004) included an article regarding US regulatory approval of broadband Internet access over power lines (BPL). While it is too early to know whether consumers will embrace BPL for residential high speed Internet access, alternative new uses for the technology are already beginning to emerge. The Ramada Inn and Conference Centre in Cornwall, Ontario found BPL to be the best retrofit option for giving hotel guests access to the Internet from their rooms. Because of the cement block construction of the building, traditional options such as running network cable or installing a Wi-Fi network were not attractive. BPL allowed the existing electrical wiring in the hotel to be used to create the network, thereby giving hundreds of hotel guests Internet access from their rooms. Trytel, the unit of Telecom Ottawa Ltd that installed the system, won the Internet Protocol Project of the Year Award for its work on this project. For more information, visit: http://www.itbusiness.ca/index.asp?theaction=61&sid=57094. Summary by: Sue Diaz