Google invests in power-line broadband

[ConfuZed]

Although Current did not specify the amount it received from the search king, the media giant and the investment banker, The Wall Street Journal reported that the three companies have invested roughly $100 million in the start-up. Last year, Current and Cinergy Broadband, a subsidiary of energy company Cinergy, announced that their two joint ventures had received $70 million from Cinergy, EnerTech Capital and Liberty Associated Partners.

As part of last year's announcement, Current and Cinergy Broadband said they would create one joint venture to bundle broadband and voice services for Cinergy's 1.5 million customers in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. A second joint venture would deploy broadband over power lines to smaller municipal and cooperatively owned power companies, which reach about 24 million customers across the United States.

Current said Thursday that it plans to use the new investment money to expand its broadband-over-power-line deployments in the United States and overseas. EnerTech Capital and Liberty Associated, a partnership between Liberty Media and the Berkman family, also contributed to the new financing round.

"These investments provide us with both capital and operating assistance as we continue to roll out broadband-over-power-line services to provide voice, video and data services," William Berkman, chairman of Current, said in a statement...<More>

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-5777917.html

[BiggJawn]

1. That's money down the crapper....

Every company that has attempted to put a BPL system into operation has had to remove it before the end of any trial period, due to interference to other users of the MW-HF spectrum.

They tried it in Europe, they tried it in Virginia and they tried it in Cincinatti (among others) and not a system is still in operation.

Mikey Bowel got lots of payola to Daddy's favourite party from companies that wanted to launch this solution looking for a problem, so he was just okie-dokie with letting it go.

"I see the role of the Commission as 'Cheerleaders' for new technology..." is how he put it...

It's crap, and Google stockholders are gonna take such a bath, they'll think Hurricane Dennis just sprayed up their asses.

[high density]

2. BPL sucks

We shouldn't allow it unless we want to kiss a portion of the usable radio spectrum goodbye.

[greenman3610]

3. how's that?

[Occulus]

4. interference n/t

[sam the dawg]

5. BPL

Sounds like when ENE said they were trading real time broadband distribution.
This will kick the stock. Insiders sell into lift. New economy is about ideas and concepts and "pro forma" earnings rather than reality.

[cprise]

6. Anyone remember Luke Stewart (ex-NASA)?

Caused a sensation in the late-90s with his MediaFusion startup. Their idea was to use powerlines as MASER conduits! Purportedly there was no EM interference, the speeds exceedingly high, and the signal could traverse transformers unimpeded. It is also said they successfully did a proof-of-concept test between Texas and New York (this was reported in the IT press around 2000).

Current site: http://www.hyperwires.com/index.html