DirecTV Considers Internet Via Power Lines

DirecTV is considering offering broadband internet service via power lines next year, with the company mulling a wide-scale test in a major US city.

The satellite provider is one of several talking to power-line Internet equipment manufacturers about offering high-speed Internet services. A test to see if such a service is feasible would occur in a "top 50" city and would have a coverage area of at least half the city.

Satellite TV operators are feeling the squeeze of competitors, and have begun to investigate solutions to allow subscribers to sign up for high-speed Internet service. The ability to offer options for Internet connectivity could make satellite TV service more attractive to some.

DirecTV has also considered Wi-Max technology, and even a partnership with satellite television competitor EchoStar Communications, the parent company of the DISH Network.

Currently, the company offers DSL service through partnerships with three major telephone providers, including Verizon, Qwest, and AT&T. AT&T is a partner with EchoStar as well.

There are opponents to broadband over power lines, or BPL. The technology is said to cause a great deal of radio frequency interference, and some groups, most notably amateur radio operators, have been very vocal in their opposition to the technology.

"Overhead electrical power lines and residential wiring act as antennas that unintentionally radiate the broadband signals as radio signals throughout entire neighborhoods and along roadsides," a document from the American Radio Relay League (AARL), an organization of ham radio operators, on the subject reads.

Interference from BPL has been observed across the high frequency or "shortwave bands," as well as on VHF frequencies commonly used by first responders.

Amateur radio bands also receive such interference. The ARRL has gone as far as to attempt to have BPL deployments blocked through the FCC, claiming it violates laws that protect amateur bands from interference.