Internet users in Germany will soon have a shockingly innovative way to access the Net
Published:
7 April 2001 y., Saturday
Internet users in Germany will soon have a shockingly innovative way to access the Net, when RWE Powerline rolls out Internet services over a small part of its power grid in July.
The technology is called Power Line Communications (PLC), and it could change the way many people get online. RWE Powerline is a subsidiary of RWE, Germany's largest electricity provider.
Right now we're the only company in the world doing this," said RWE Powerline spokesman Andreas Preuss. Passing data over electric wires is a relatively old idea, and many electric companies have already been using their networks to send data within their grids. Basically, data is transferred over high-tension wires just like electricity and then is stepped down and passed through a special transformer located at the local power substations.
Each transformer will be able to serve up to 200 households. From substation, data is conducted through low-tension wires into each home. A specially designed modem then interprets the data in a similar way to conventional modems. The modems, developed RWE's partner in the project, Swiss Ascom, can then be plugged into any electric socket in the house.
If RWE's program proves successful, the telephone companies -- which have been painfully slow in rolling out DSL across the continent -- could very well have some stiff competition on their hands.
Users will have to purchase a special modem for about $160 –- roughly the same price of a DSL modem -- and then pay a $23 monthly rate that will allow them to transfer 250 megabytes. Additional data transfer will cost 6 cents per megabyte.
Šaltinis:
wired.com
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Software company announced new structure_ of it_s business.
more »
A new generation of smart phone "iPhone5" will go on sale in September.
more »
The Collector USB Flash Drive is one awesome concept that I’d love to see on shelves.
more »
Internet Giant Google announced that they will be investing $168 million in a solar energy power plant being developed in the Mojave Desert by the startup BrightSource Energy.
more »
New battery in your phone or laptop, that is charged hundreds of times faster.
more »
Facebook has announced that it will share the design secrets behind its new energy-efficient data centre with rival companies.
more »
The powerful new 15.6” ASUS-Automobili Lamborghini VX7 offers a completely revamped notebook experience...
more »
Moonwatch clock is designed to determine the relation between lunar cycle and human emotions.
more »
Every year, Fortune magazine comes out with its list of the Most Admired Companies in the world.
more »
NASA's Messenger spacecraft delivers its first photos of Mercury and the first images ever taken from the rocky planet's own orbit.
more »
What is the current role and likely future role of social media tools like Facebook and Twitter in framing European discourse?
more »