[Hidden-tech] Helping others without broadband

[Will Loving]

There is are a couple of interesting technologies currently in development
which will eventually expand the avenues by which one can receive broadband:
Broadband Over Powerline (BPL) and the "Stratellite". Neither are
particularly relevant for Western Mass in the near future, but I've been
researching and following their development for a while as part of my work
with World Computer Exchange and New Vision for Africa.

The Stratellite is "a brand name for a proposed high-altitude stratospheric
airship that would provide a stationary communications platform for various
types of wireless signals currently carried by communications towers or
satellites." Made by Sanswire, "the unmanned Stratellite would be powered by
solar cells and propelled by electric motors, and would resemble a
245-foot-long (75-metre) double-tailed whale when complete." It would offer
coverage to a 200 mile/320 km diameter area and would stay in stationary
position between 65,000 and 80,000 feet.

While a single stratellite could not handle large amounts of broadband
communications over it's full area (size of Texas or France), it does have
the potential to offer access into rural areas without the need to run cable
or fibre optic. Sanswire plans to offer service in the US first but also has
contracts for placing Stratellite systems in Peru, Columbia and elsewhere in
South America. It will be interesting to succeed.

http://www.sanswire.com/

Broadband Over Powerline elicits great excitement in developing countries
because the electrical grid is the most pervasive utility infrastructure.
Offering internet access anywhere you can plug in an electrical cord is very
appealing. Unfortunately, BPL is really a "last-mile" technology, which
means that you could make internet available in a town or village, but you
can't transmit the signal over high-tension lines without a lot of extra
equipment and repeaters. In most cases, what's likely to happen in
developing countries is that they use Fibre Optic or microwave to bring in
the signal and then use BPL to distribute it.

There are also issues about shortwave frequencies being generated by the
signal as it travels down line. These signals can potentially cause problems
with emergency systems, ham radio and other systems that use that part of
the spectrum. Work is being done to reduce the noise generation and to find
ways to run the signal over longer distances. BPL is currently in testing in
Ohio, Maryland and somewhere else out west.

A couple of companies doing BPL are Current Technologies and Plexeon:
http://www.currenttechnologies.com/
http://www.plexeon.com/broadband_powerline.html


Will Loving

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