The HomePlug® Powerline Alliance Establishes Two New International Working Groups

HomePlug Maintains Strength With Market-Leading Member Companies, Extensive Worldwide Field Trials and Appointment of New Working Groups in Europe and Japan

26 Mar 2001

SAN RAMON, Calif., March 26, 2001 - The HomePlug® Powerline Alliance, an industry consortium established to provide a forum for the development of an open specification of home powerline networking products and services, continues to move toward the Alliance's core goals and objectives by creating two Working Groups in Europe and Japan. The global Working Groups will leverage local expertise and established associations to broaden HomePlug's international presence.

“HomePlug has the integral components to launch and market a technology that can have great impact, enabling today's consumer to converge computer and household devices through the ever-present power outlet,” said Karuna Uppal, Program Manager in the Consumer Market Convergence service for the Yankee Group. “These components include some of the IT industry's biggest players, a series of international field trials that test its baseline technology rigorously, and the extensive time and financial commitment from its member companies.”

New Global Working Groups

In efforts to extend powerline home networking technology worldwide, HomePlug has sanctioned two new internal working groups: the Japan Working Group and the European Working Group. These working groups will identify and overcome powerline and home networking challenges abroad. Additionally, HomePlug will be in Hannover, Germany to participate in CeBIT 2001, the leading international showcase for information and telecommunications technology.

Field Testing Technology Specification

Under the direction of HomePlug's Technology Working Group, the Alliance has completed comprehensive field testing in 350 of the scheduled 500 homes worldwide. This testing ensures the technology's market readiness defined by stringent parameters listed in HomePlug's Market Requirements Document. In homes evaluated thus far, positive results have been achieved while testing throughput, latency, packet error performance and coverage for a variety of common networking scenarios and applications (file transfer, VOIP and streaming media). In June 2001, the Alliance plans to release to HomePlug members the 1.0 powerline home networking specification. HomePlug compliant products should reach the consumer market in the second half of 2001.

“During the last year we have seen an extraordinary amount of progress as a result of the enduring support from our 80+ member companies,” said Ryan Middleton, a HomePlug Vice President and from Emerging Markets and Technologies, Texas Instruments. “Our member companies lead and sustain the Alliance's Working Groups and support HomePlug in developing a world-class powerline home networking standard.”

Industry Leading Membership

Backed by more than 80 industry-leading companies, including Compaq, Cisco, 3Com, Intel and Panasonic, HomePlug has the expertise necessary to secure its place at the forefront of powerline home networking. At HomePlug's All-Member meeting in February 2001, the Alliance's member companies were joined by industry analysts and prospective members to discuss the future of home networking and how the development of an interoperable, cost-effective technology will propel the market's growth.

As an open alliance, HomePlug invites all companies and organizations that compliment HomePlug's mission of fostering a specification for home networking products and services built to leverage the worldwide pervasiveness of residential powerlines to join. For membership information, please contact Betsy Gillette, Executive Director of HomePlug, at bgillette@homeplug.org

HomePlug Powerline Alliance, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation established to provide a forum for the creation of specifications for home powerline networking products and services; and, to accelerate the demand for these products and services through the sponsorship of market and user education programs. HomePlug founding member companies are: 3Com, AMD, Cisco Systems, Compaq, Conexant, Enikia, Intel, Intellon, Motorola, Panasonic, SONICblue, RadioShack, and Texas Instruments.

Additional information about the alliance is available at www.homeplug.org

Filed: Mar 2001, Powerline Networking, Press, VOIP, Co: HomePlug, Tech: None