By Shauna Watkins
Reporter-Times
Waiting for your dial-up modem to connect to the Internet can be a long irritating process. Broadband connections are the most desirable, but because Martinsville and surrounding towns are located in such rural areas, a broadband connection is not easily, or cheaply, available.
A new technology will soon be able to rid Internet users of the tiresome wait of dial-up and give you the speed of a DSL connection - and Internet connection through your electric outlet.
Yesterday SCI REMC announced that they will offer a new high-speed Internet connection that would flow in to your home through power lines.
SCI REMC has partnered with International Broadband Electric Communications, Inc (IBEC), a leading broadband over power line provider.
Broadband over power lines (BPL) is the latest technology in Internet access. SCI REMC will be the first company in Indiana and the second company in the country to deploy this technology.
“It’s an exciting technology. If you can imagine ultimately our 33,000 plus members can have access to high speed Internet by plugging into any wall outlet in their home, said Kevin Sump, CEO of SCI REMC. “You are always ‘on’ high speed Internet through your electrical outlets. No need for dial up or add additional in-home/business wiring or phone lines and it’s up to 50 times faster than dial up.”
In order to get the BPL into your home electric company linemen install an Interface onto substation generators - where power is generated for area neighborhoods. An Ethernet “plug and play” modem provided by IBEC is then installed into the customer’s home. The Internet is then always on from any electrical outlet in the home.
SCI REMC serves Brown, Morgan, Monroe, Owen, and parts of Putnam, Johnson and Clay counties.
A marketing pilot program was introduced on September 25 to more than 1,100 customers in the Martinsville area. The purpose of the pilot is to prove that it is financially probable and to improve the efficiency of the BPL.
The pilot area is located on a bordering area on the north by Middle Patton Park and Sheldon Roads, on the west by Lower Patton Park, Mosier and Buffalo Roads and on the south and east by Indiana 67. Those in the marketing pilot area who did not receive a letter in the mail can log on to the REMC Website for more information.
DSL service has always been difficult to connect to in rural areas for reasons such as being able to maintain performance over long power lines and interference with radio frequencies along with the higher cost because of the density of customers. REMC states that 24 percent of customers will not have cable or DSL for another three to five years and that 37 percent will most likely never be able to have cable or DSL.
Sump says that that 37 percent is the population of REMC customers. The BPL would be able to reach theses customers because unlike cable or DSL, BPL runs through power lines that are already established.
Eventually REMC hopes to offer more than just high speed Internet service. The hope to be able to include automated meter readings, and video surveillance. Another possibility is wireless service where any customer could access the Internet from anywhere (close to a power line) using only a password. Service would be available on the road and even on a park bench. A live video surveillance camera can be seen at the REMC website at www.sciremc.coop.
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