Plug Pulled On Data-Over-Power-Lines Plan

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September 08, 1999 (6:01 AM EDT)

By Guy Middleton,

Canadian telecom equipment maker Nortel and U.K.-based United Utilities (UU) are to pull out of a plan to transmit data over electricity cables, citing poor commercial prospects for the technology that offered users 1 megabit per second access over ordinary power lines.

"The decision was arrived at on commercial grounds, not technical ones -- it performed well in trials," said United Utilities spokesman Alan Price. "The decision was taken in light of the competitive market for broadband access.

"We were looking for potential investment partners, but we don't intend to pursue the technology at the moment."

That decision was reached by the shareholders of Nortel and UU, and the patents for the technology will remain with the two companies, said Kate Thomson, director of marketing programs at Manchester, England-based Norweb, UU's power utility.

"The volumes [of subscribers] were not there compared with xDSL and cable," Thomson said.

"We may review bids for the patents from utilities and other customers," she added.

"Some months ago, the IEE [Institute of Electrical Engineers] published an article raising concerns about electromagnetic compatibility [EMC] problems -- stuff leaking out of the wires [and interfering with other communications]," said Peter Aknai, senior consultant at telecom consultancy Analysys. "If there are EMC issues, it would add cost burdens to the system. Cable and xDSL don't suffer so much from EMC problems."

Aknai said the technology may simply have missed its opportunity, having had less time to develop than other broadband technologies.

Trials of the technology were announced in October 1997, and the companies had considered a North American rollout. The "always-on" access technology had been aimed at domestic and small business users, with Norweb ambitious to break the monopoly of telecom companies in the access market.