> > THE FINAL CONNECTION? Brett Kilbourne is associate counsel with the United Telecom Council (UTC) in Washington, DC. For more information on UTC's 2001 Powerline Telecommunications Report, visit . Just a few years ago, powerline telecommunications technology held more promise than commercial reality. Today, it has begun to prove itself and is opening up new markets for electric utilities. The promise of powerline telecommunications (PLT) is great. Imagine: You can plug in your computer and get on the internet through the powerline...automate your electrical appliances via the wires already attached to your home...get low-cost Internet access, climate control, and lighting control for your office building and pay your bill to the electric company. Why not? Utilities, after all, have used similar powerline technology for internal communications purposes for decadesí‚€€and the connection to the customer already exists. The concept of digital PLT for commercial consumption started with Nortel in 1997. It partnered with United Utilities under the name NOR.WEB to conduct limited trials in Manchester, in the United Kingdom. The company reported data throughput rates of 1 megabit per se...
