BPL's Perfect Storm: VoWiFi

And that is a lot of acronyms in the title. Broadband over powerline -- a technology we have all heard about forever but never seems to get off of the ground. Perhaps the main reason it never seems to go anywhere is that we all (most of us anyway) already have two options for broadband running into our homes -- cable and DSL. Or perhaps it is because power companies are conservative, slow-moving, unable to innovate...

But I predict that this is all about to change. An opportunity too great to overlook that power companies are in a unique position to take advantage of is coming down the technology turnpike at breakneck speed -- Voice over IP over WiFI. Why the roadway metaphor? Think about what the power companies have in addition to a line running into every home -- a pole (with power) every few meters down every street.

Sure, you could have put Wi-Fi APs on the tops of those poles some time ago. And every geek with a laptop balanced on a mailbox could have been posting to his (sorry, or her) blog wirelessly. But many more people talk on phones as they roam... and with a plethora of VoWiFi devices expected in the next 12 months, demand for wireless IP access on unlicensed spectrum will explode...

Just in time! The broadband over powerline guys are ready to make this technology sing. APs every few poles will bring about a revolution in mobile communications, making VoWiFi as ubiquitous as cell phones -- but at a fraction of the cost. And the services that can be offered to subscribers will put efforts such as EV-DO to shame.

So what's holding up the power companies now?