Wednesday, May 18, 2005
BPL, RIP
A couple years ago, a born again CLEC wanted to make me chief strategist. I was OK with that as long as they were planning hybrid fiber-wireless. But when the senior leadership team asked me what I thought about Broadband over Powerline (BPL) I told them.
(A Consultant would have said, "Yes boss, good idea boss." But not me.)
I told them that powerline was inherently unfriendly, that it'd cost a lot more than fiber even in the short run, and that the wire into the house was an illusion best not chased. I never heard from them again. (To their credit, they paid the last of my expenses before they disappeared from my life.)
Now this study (via this article via Om Malik, via Casey Lide on the Baller-Herbst list) awards BPL a "midterm grade" of
* A in Politics
* B in Self-Promotion
* D in Technical Performance
* D in Business Model Demonstration
* D in Market Identification
* F in Pilot to Implementation Transition
It looks like the final to me.
Om wonders why telecom lobbyists keep pushing BPL. It's a no-brainer, Om; BPL is so crippled there's no "disruptive" in it.
(A Consultant would have said, "Yes boss, good idea boss." But not me.)
I told them that powerline was inherently unfriendly, that it'd cost a lot more than fiber even in the short run, and that the wire into the house was an illusion best not chased. I never heard from them again. (To their credit, they paid the last of my expenses before they disappeared from my life.)
Now this study (via this article via Om Malik, via Casey Lide on the Baller-Herbst list) awards BPL a "midterm grade" of
* A in Politics
* B in Self-Promotion
* D in Technical Performance
* D in Business Model Demonstration
* D in Market Identification
* F in Pilot to Implementation Transition
It looks like the final to me.
Om wonders why telecom lobbyists keep pushing BPL. It's a no-brainer, Om; BPL is so crippled there's no "disruptive" in it.
Technorati Tags: Broadband+over+powerline, BPL, SustainingTechnology
Comments:
I was asked to do a technical assessment on BPL a bit over a year ago for a large investment bank. I spent a half day teaching them a bit of physics and then created a series of tests they could ask the BPL vendors to perform.
The sad thing (for me) was that after 3 days it became so clear to them that BPL was doomed that they pulled the plug on the project and thanked me for my 25 hours of work (I was hoping for more serious work:-)
I'm too honest to milk a turkey like this one.
It is astonishing how BPL snookered the FCC - of course the management of the FCC wasn't exactly concerned with performance more than creating the illusion that competition could exist.
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The sad thing (for me) was that after 3 days it became so clear to them that BPL was doomed that they pulled the plug on the project and thanked me for my 25 hours of work (I was hoping for more serious work:-)
I'm too honest to milk a turkey like this one.
It is astonishing how BPL snookered the FCC - of course the management of the FCC wasn't exactly concerned with performance more than creating the illusion that competition could exist.
