Powerline Update

2002 Update on the Powerline Industry

2002 and Beyond

Soon it will be a question of market shares. Interest in and acceptance of the Powerline technology has been worldwide. Some big system vendors operate internationally already. The question is, are those few early adopters right or is it still not to be taken for granted that a good business can be made with Powerline?

While there is already healthy competition in the technology and Powerline has been accepted as a technology issue to be reckoned with by the regulators there is still relatively scarce information available on the business aspects of Powerline.

The few companies who are successful guard the business know-how as a secret of their success and are therefore reluctant to share it with others. That makes outside professional help even more important for any company that seriously considers entering the Powerline game. In a global context, there appears now to open a “window of opportunity” for Powerline applications. There have been some studies recently that come out less optimistic about the growth of Powerline deployment.

Despite all euphoria, the rollout of Powerline services happens only slowly, with certain regional pockets served in the near future, but general availability still out in 2003 and beyond.

Compared with the speed that price competitive DSL services in those same regions are introduced, Powerline is running into severe problems. The price models forcurrent offerings of Powerline service are data throughput sensitive, which makes Powerline tooexpensive, compared with DSL.

Due to the lead-time necessary for an aspiring Powerline operator company to manage the transition, companies who are thinking of entering the field must act fast not to miss the opportunity.