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Regulatory certainty will promote investment in and deployment of Broadband over Power Line (BPL) systems, which is consistent with the public interest in more broadband access and competition and improved electric service reliability, efficiency and safety. Utilities need regulatory certainty for the technical operation of BPL systems; for the offering of commercial services, such as voice, video and high-speed Internet access; and for the use of utility assets for BPL.

Specifically, utilities should be encouraged, but not required to support the deployment of BPL systems. Affiliate transaction rules should be streamlined and should allow for the recovery of investment for utility applications. No additional rights-of-way or easements should be required to deploy BPL where electric lines are already in place, nor should BPL be subject to franchise fees or similar charges by local regulators. Similarly, BPL services should be free from local regulation and subject to state and federal regulations no more than other broadband services. Finally, BPL operations should be subject to technical requirements that are balanced in order to protect against interference and also to promote investment in and deployment of BPL systems.

BPL is a promising last-mile technology that can be used to provide residential and commercial broadband access to both isolated rural and suburban communities. Moreover, it provides two-way, real-time, IP-based connectivity to electric customers, enabling utilities to offer more reliable and affordable service. The deployment of BPL also pays dividends for homeland security and environmental quality, because it can be used for critical infrastructure protection and surveillance and it can help utilities become more efficient, thereby reducing carbon emissions and greenhouse gases.

UTC also supports the development of open technical standards that ensure coexistence and interoperability among devices that share the electric lines as a communications medium. These standards currently are under development through various industry consortia and international standards bodies. UTC works to coordinate those efforts in order to promote innovation and economies of scale, so that utilities have access to cost-effective and reliable equipment to provide BPL services and utility applications, now and in the future.

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