IBM has recently announced that they are going to put in a broadband over powerline (BPL) system to
“targeted primarily at rural areas in the US where the sparse population has prevented other ISPs from laying down lines for cable and DSL services”
In Australia on the other hand we seem locked in to providing a fibre to the node (FttN) system to 98% of the population, which will include a large area which is remote and difficult/expensive to lay fibre to.
It seems to me that a BPL system would suit the Australian environment even better than the US. It would be fine to lay fibre in the major cities, but to keep the costs down, it doesn’t make sense to do the same in country areas. In the same breath, country areas should have equal access to broadband as the city. This technology seems the perfect fit.
For more info see: –
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2230428/ibm-gets-back-bpl-business