Broadband over power lines 'to gain momentum'

Providing broadband services over power lines has been predicted by industry analysts to be a major growth area in the next few years.

Market research firm In-Stat forecast that the networking technology will be "a winner" due to its ease of installation and the fact it needs no extra cabling.

"Management and conservation of energy have become the drivers for smart grid utility applications, where broadband and low-speed power line communications will play a role," said In-Stat analyst Joyce Putscher.

"As a result, we expect HomePlug Command & Control solutions to emerge in a big way, although we envision many combination solutions evolving including power line and low-speed wireless technologies."

The Homeplug technology uses lower speed connections to allow communication between home or office environmental systems, such as the air conditioning or light.

However, recent In-Stat research highlighted that faster broadband over power line services had seen growth of nearly 100 per cent in 2007.