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Swedish power companies are now convinced that their electricity networks can support broadband communications and that they can compete with the telephone operator Telia's ADSL system. All initial technical reservations regarding the Power Line Communications (PLC) technology seem to have been dispersed.
Swedish power giant Sydkraft, with about one million electricity customers, looks set to become the first company to introduce the technology more widely in Sweden. Sydkraft has plans for a major commercial launch in the near future, targeting primarily single-family houses, smaller multi-household buildings and small to medium-sized businesses.
Together with 40 other companies, among them Birka Energi, Graninge and Vattenfall, Sydkraft has been involved in a project run by the Swedish R&D organisation Elforsk. Together these electricity providers supply almost all of Sweden's four million households with electricity, and no doubt they have enough resources to challenge Telia's position as a broadband service provider.
"Our conclusion is that technically PLC can compete on the broadband market in up to 90 per cent of the country. Now, it is up to each company to carry out their own commercial analysis for the areas in which they operate," says broadband project leader Peter Chudi of Graninge AB.
Sydkraft intends to order their PLC systems from Swiss Ascom or Mainnet of Israel, which have both proved that their products meet the technical criteria set up by the Swedish electricity provider.
Together with 40 other companies, among them Birka Energi, Graninge and Vattenfall, Sydkraft has been involved in a project run by the Swedish R&D organisation Elforsk. Together these electricity providers supply almost all of Sweden's four million households with electricity, and no doubt they have enough resources to challenge Telia's position as a broadband service provider.
"Our conclusion is that technically PLC can compete on the broadband market in up to 90 per cent of the country. Now, it is up to each company to carry out their own commercial analysis for the areas in which they operate," says broadband project leader Peter Chudi of Graninge AB.
Sydkraft intends to order their PLC systems from Swiss Ascom or Mainnet of Israel, which have both proved that their products meet the technical criteria set up by the Swedish electricity provider.
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