Electric cables used for hotel broadband

Mini bar-tastic

By Tim Richardson • Get more from this author

Posted in Telecoms, 13th June 2005 13:34 GMT

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A UK company is looking to use existing electrical cables to deliver broadband services to public areas such as hotels.

Unlike powerline technologies that compete with DSL by delivering broadband over electricity cables to homes and business, the Cibersuite service needs a broadband connection in place already.

But by using a building's existing cable infrastructure it is then able to wire up a building for high-speed net access.

Cibersuite is due to complete its first UK Broadband over the Electricity Network (BoEN) service installation in a Birmingham hotel later this week.

However, the service has already been used in Spain and Latin America enabling punters to plug into the service wherever there is an electricity socket.

Those behind the technology say that because it uses a building's existing electricity network to deliver broadband, it eliminates the need to install new telephone cables.

For hotels, offices and schools looking to sign up to the service, installation takes around 24 hours. For punters, the company also reckons it's easier to use than wireless broadband options such as wi-fi.

Said David Jones, head of Cibersuite UK: "I believe that Broadband over the Electricity Network will prove to be the next step in broadband technology and will enhance the users' experience many fold." ®