It is for 2001: the project Powerline of the ETSI should lead to an astonishing technology. Your computer will be connected to the plug and you will receive the Internet.
Deregulation in telecommunications give wings to some people! Actually, the competition is now wide opened for high flow technologies accessible by anyone. The Boucle Locale Radio was famous, but now, the PLT (PowerLine Telecommunications) are arriving: the Internet via the electrical network, with a flow of 1Mbit a second.
A network already made
The ETSI, launched the project in 1999, to meet the demand. Aim: make voice and data go through the electrical network. But Siemens, one of the firms members of the ETSI launched in the adventure and has been working on the project since 1997.
The advantages of such a technique are numerous: 'First of all, the network already exists and it will cost nothing to implement it,'Mickael Koch confirmed, he works for Siemens and is responsible for the PLT project at the ETSI. 'The investments will not be considerable. And, we will reach anybody without exception!'
Manage with interferences
The biggest problem was to manage the problem of interferences between electrical and data flows inside the same cable.
'The Powerline network will be implemented thanks to entrance and exit gates, ie, mechanisms which will guarantee the interfaces between the IP Internet network and the electrical one. For users, they just will have to plug their computers and they will receive the internet. The modem will be replaced by a similar box….'
The ETSI good should be on the market in September 2002. But the market will not wait such a long time. The launching of the technology will depend from its usefulness and decisions of the companies. Everybody is planning for 2001. At Siemens we will launch it maybe in February 2001.'