Powerline battles WiFi to network the broadband home

Stuart Corner
Thursday, 13 December 2007 09:56

Business IT - Technology

Earlier this year DS2 was pushing the, claimed, lower latency of its BPL technology  against WiFi as a key benefit to online gamers.

In recent years a number of service providers had adopted and supplied to end users both BPL and wireless technologies to ensure that users are able to distribute their bandwidth intensive multimedia services around their homes.

In 2005 Spanish carrier, Telefónica, purchased 30,000 powerline ethernet adaptors from Corinex (which used DS2 chips) to solve the problem of getting its DSL triple play service from the phone socket to where people want to watch TV in their homes. According to a joint Corinex/Telefónica press release "A major obstacle for telecoms delivering IPTV has been sending the signal from the ADSL modem to other rooms in the home...[but] the new generation of powerline technology offers the speed and quality of service required to distribute video within the home."

The release went on to say: "Telefónica went through extensive efforts to research and evaluate all the different technology options available today and those still in development. Corinex's AV Powerline product was the only commercially viable solution enabling Telefónica to deploy their [IPTV] service anywhere in the home. Neither wireless nor other powerline technologies could meet their needs."

In Hong Kong in mid 2006, BPL technology developer Intellon announced that PCCW was using its products to "capture broadband customers unwilling to install new wiring in their homes". PCCW had at the time over 800,000 subscribers, of which 550,000 had also signed up nowTV, then the world largest IPTV service.

Also last year, Belgian carrier Belgacom, had a bet each way   choosing both broadband over powerline technology from Corinex and Ruckus' Wireless enhanced WiFi technology to enable customers of its IPTV service to distribute signals to devices around their homes."