New Technology Show Promise for Rural Internet

AT&T Inc. said last week it had discovered a way to deliver high-speed broadband over electrical power lines, a technology it claims would make it cheaper and easier to bring the internet to hard-to-reach places.

The technology, which AT&T calls AirGig, works by placing a special antenna atop a power pole and blasting a wireless signal that hugs the outside of the power line. The wireless signal then radiates from the power line and provides web connections at gigabit speeds, it said.

People in proximity of the power line could get service inside homes, said John Donovan, AT&T’s chief strategy officer. When certain wireless frequencies are used, people could even get a signal when farther away from the power line, he said.

AT&T says it has filed patents for the technology and is looking for a place to conduct field trials next year. If that goes well, it would still be several years before the technology is commercially available.

Source: Wall Street Journal