Power Line Communications (PLC) has been used since the 1890s to send low level telecoms signals out to activate or deactivate devices along the electricity grid. This technology was further developed over the last century and is used, for example, for the off-peak hot water service that most electricity companies offer their customers nowadays. Broadband Power Line (BPL) started to arrive in the late 1990s. Simultaneously the energy companies are also being forced to look for telecoms solutions for their core business and are looking at Demand Side Management services to better manage their network, offer better services to their customers and handle the gigantic increase in electricity demand throughout the world and at the same time manage security issues and the environmental impact of all of that. The move from PLC to BPL could well lead to a 3rd national broadband platform to the home next to telecoms and digital TV.
-New opportunities in home networking -BPL as an access technology -Analyses and forecasts -Demand Side Management -Smart meter reading -BPL pilots in Australia -UtiliTel and major utility players in telco market -Technology -Architecture and techniques -Standards, HomePlug and Opera -Interference and challenges
