Avista to test broadband power line service

Avista Utilities will switch on its first test of broadband over power line service later this year in North Idaho, company officials said Wednesday.

The site of the test has not been announced, said Avista officials. It will be in one of the urban areas of north Idaho where Avista provides electric power service.

How long the trial lasts and how much customers would pay for broadband service are being negotiated with another company, said Dave Heyamoto, the utility’s market solutions manager.

That company has provided similar services elsewhere but doesn’t want to be identified until a contract is signed, said Heyamoto.

“We’re not putting a deadline on this test,” he said. “We’ll establish evaluation criteria that will look at how customers feel about it and how they accept it,” and how well the service helps Avista manage its power network, said Heyamoto.

If successful, the test would lead to Avista offering many customers a competitive high-speed data option to existing services like digital subscriber line (DSL) or cable modems.

Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) uses existing utility power lines to deliver data and voice transmissions to homes or businesses. The technology superimposes a data signal over the standard 50 or 60 Hz alternating current and then dumps that data into a special modem at the homeplug end point.

Utilities around the country, including Idaho Power, have been testing the service for customers. Advocates have said it would expand broadband to many rural areas by using an existing infrastructure.

BPL’s critics say the technology interferes with shortwave radio frequencies and is not fully tested.

Over time, the Avista power line network could become a delivery system for video, phone service and data, according to Heyamoto.

Apart from a content pipeline, the BPL technology also can be used to measure and manage the utility’s power system, said Imhof. Combined with newly installed automated metering devices, BPL would allow managers to identify and correct distribution problems in the grid, said Heyamoto.

The test location can’t be disclosed because Avista hasn’t signed a contract with a service provider who will operate the data network, said spokesman Hugh Imhof.

Under the proposed plan, Avista would install equipment that delivers data through the same distribution system that sends electrical power to home outlets. The partner company would provide the home equipment that takes the signal and converts it to Web data, phone messages, movies or TV content.

The provider would also be the company that bills the customer for the service. In effect, the content provider would be leasing Avista’s power grid, said Heyamoto.

The cost to consumers would be “price competitive with DSL and cable,” he added.

Avista initially will spend money to install the test equipment in the trial area. If the trial continues and becomes a regular service, the content provider and Avista would split the customer revenue, said Heyamoto.

Any initial expansion of the BPL system would focus on larger and more dense population areas within the service territory, said Heyamoto. “We are interested in looking to the (option of rural BPL service,” he said. “But business economics come into play… Our partner is interested in generating enough revenue to cover costs and make money,” said Heyamoto.

North Idaho was selected because it provides a large enough population center in an area with access to a data backbone, said Heyamoto. Avista has to decide if the network data feed will come via wireless, fiber optic network or microwave, he added.

Another reason to not disclose the test site is concern over competition, said spokesman Imhof. A phone carrier providing DSL or a cable company in the test area might respond to the test by dropping its broadband prices. “That’s happened elsewhere” as an attempt to dampen enthusiasm for the BPL option, said Heyamoto.

James Bellessa, an electric utility analyst with D.A. Davidson in Great Falls, said Avista’s investigation of the BPL option makes sense.

He said Idaho Power ran a BPL trial in the Boise area and has held off introducing the service across its service territory.

“They found the technology works,” Bellessa said. “But they see room for improvement. The technology seems to be evolving and changing every 90 days.”