By David Roman
Courtesy of EE Times Jul 25, 2005

The electric power grid forms the infrastructure for broadband powerline (BPL) communications. Naqi Jaffery, president of Telecom Trends International Inc., notes "the power grid is already there, so it may be more cost-effective" to add BPL than to deploy "cable, optical fiber or even DSL." But a new IMS Research report predicts BPL "will continue to supply only a minute part of the Americas' broadband consumer base, remaining under 0.5 percent of the market."