KELLY LOUISEIZE
Sault Ste. Marie will be the first Canadian city to roll out broadband technology over power lines - a move that is expected to provide unlimited growth opportunities for one Sault-based telecommunications company.
PUC Telecom has forged a partnership with U.S.-based Amperion Inc. to deploy Broadband over Power line (BPL) technology in the Sault.
Amperion's products allow utilities and service providers to use existing powerline infrastructure to provide high-speed data transport and enhanced utility services economically with minimal capital investment.
PUC Telecom and Amperion have also struck an agreement with other Canadian utilities to roll out high-speed broadband service using the Amperion Connect platform.
Martin Wyant, general manager of PUC Telecom in the Sault, says the technology has endless applications.
"There are so many things that could be done with this technology," Wyant explains.
PUC will be installing wireless access "boxes" along electrical lines in heavily populated areas of the city. These boxes will process data through a radio transmission, onto PUC's fibre-optic backbone, which will be connected to the Internet. The speed is comparable to cable or DSL modem transmission.
"The one thing that will be different with ours is ... if you have a connection through a lap top or PVA (for example), you unplug it and wherever you roam, and wherever we have network, you can surf."
Wyant plans to implement the service in a location that is acceptable for the community, and noticeable for interested parties.
Should the market trial prove to be successful, the implications are endless, he says. On one hand he is looking to provide service in a unique way to the city businesses and residents. An example is through residential use where the homeowner is connected to the utility company and the BPL system.
"It's very easy to see how you could control your own power use."
On the other hand the company is interested in partnering with utility companies eager to maximize the BPL technology.
"If your utilities companies have a large comprehensive network that can be deployed cost effectively and they are involved with it, there are a whole host of utility applications that can be developed."
One example of this is automatic metre reading. Signals are sent out to remote metres, and data detailing the power usage is retrieved and displayed
back to the utility company.
"I think (just brainstorming) there were 60 different unique utility types of applications that, if they were available, would really create some great efficiencies within the industry."
Already PUC has fielded calls from industry looking to exchange information. In fact, the competition has started knocking at his door, and Wyant
has scheduled meetings with various telecommunications providers.
Although it is too early to speak about potential partnerships, he remains hopeful partnerships can be created.
Greater Sudbury Hydro president and general manager Doug Reeves will also be keeping a close eye on the company's progress. The technology is not new, he says. It has been used in Europe and south of the border with a few glitches pertaining to electrical distribution in relation to the transformers and boxes.
"You either have to bypass the transformer or go through it and (companies) have had some difficulties with that process. But there has been step-by-step improvement and hopefully it is there."
If successful, Reeves says Greater Sudbury has wires to every home already and it would be a matter of super-imposing signals on the existing wires to obtain a clean receiving and transmitting signal.
"It would be a great advantage," Reeves adds.
It will take less than a year to determine the success of the technology, and Reeves, as well as other interested companies, plan on staying connected
with PUC's progress.
