Broadband over power line: A regulatory economic analysis

Broadband over Power Line (BPL) has gained recent notoriety as the technology that may finally allow universal access to broadband data services. Power lines reach virtually all corners of our nation; consequently, they hold the unique potential to provide ubiquitous broadband service without the cost of additional infrastructure build-out. However, BPL still faces significant stumbling blocks towards achieving market acceptance. BPL is a late entry into the broadband services market and faces a number of technical, regulatory and financial obstacles. This paper will examine the issues that BPL must overcome in order to position itself as a major player in the broadband market. It is only through achieving the necessary objectives in each of these issues that BPL will be able to successfully compete in the broadband services market.