EC charges towards powerline Internet access

 

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By Nicole Kobie

Posted on 22 Feb 2007 at 17:07

To help develop the next generation of powerline technology - using national electricity grids to carry broadband access - the European Commission is spending €9.6 million.

The Open PLC European Research Alliance (Opera) will use the funding to rollout and to test how well the low-cost internet access works for high data rate applications such as telephony and video-on-demand.

Opera now uses specifications based on Spanish chipmaker DS2, who said the funding is a major step forward for powerline communications. 'The level of industry cooperation and support has been overwhelming, allowing OPERA to produce a specification that meets the requirements imposed by global electricity companies,' said Victor Dominguez, director of strategy and standardisation at DS2.

The specification is designed to be compatible with non-Opera technology, allowing for a smoother mass rollout in the long run.