Press release fuels new BPL hype

Last week a presentation made by Teddy Naidoo at the African Telecommunication Summit stating that Johannesburg and Pretoria could have cheap voice and data by the middle of this year was responsible for a new PLC hype.

Currently everyone is riding high on the Minister's announcement made in September last year that telecommunications would be deregulated. A further announcement is expected on 1 February so currently, many opportunists are trying to pre-empt what the Minister will announce next week.

The importance of the African Telecommunications Summit should also be taken into account. Of the 90 seats only half were filled on the opening day and by the second afternoon only 20 delegates were attending. In addition many speakers had withdrawn and the organisers had to rearrange the programme.

Currently Power Line Communication has not been regulated and its is doubtful that there will be a gap that will allow PLC to slip through the regulators net, even with the deregulation of Voice over the Internet Protocol. There are still interference regulations to contend with. Systems being tested in South Africa miss the emission standards by 30 dB.

In his statement, as quoted by Reuters, Naidoo said that Electricity firms in Johannesburg and Pretoria are launching the service but other regions would quickly follow, meaning that they would eventually offer a national network. Meanwhile the electricity line network would rely on Telkom for long distance calls.

One wonders on which planet Teddy Naidoo lives.
In the US, where some licensing is in place, there has been no permanent successful installation to date while many trials are being abandoned due to interference problems. The Telecommunications Standards Authority, ETSI, has not been able to agree on a universal emission standard. Many would-be PLC equipment manufacturers are pressing for lower limits for PLC while European Governments, many being lobbied by the IARU, are holding back.

The SARL is watching developments closely and has prepared a position paper for discussion with ICASA and ultimate publication. Once the Minister makes her announcement on Tuesday, SARL will evaluate its position and make changes as required. After that President Graham Hartlett will meet with ICASA to put the SARL's position to the regulator.

Courtesy of The South African Radio League

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