Where There Are Power Lines, There Can Be Broadband, AT&T Says

source: AT&T

Powerline technologies for communications are not a new idea, just an idea that has not achieved widespread or even significant use. But AT&T is working on “AirGig,” a method for combining fixed wireless with power line transmission for communications.

AT&T’s Project AirGig, though not yet a commercial capability, might one day deliver low-cost, multi-gigabit wireless internet speeds using power lines.

Among the hoped-for advantages:

• Easier to deploy than fiber
• Uses license-free spectrum
• No need to deploy towers, dig trenches or connect cables

At&T expects to conduct field trials in 2017.

“Project AirGig has tremendous potential to transform internet access globally, well beyond our current broadband footprint and not just in the United States,” said John Donovan, AT&T chief strategy officer.

AT&T says it has more than 100 patents or patent applications supporting this new technology and other access technologies.

“We’re experimenting with multiple ways to send a modulated radio signal around or near medium-voltage power lines,” said Donovan. “There’s no direct electrical connection to the power line required and it has the potential of multi-gigabit speeds in urban, rural and underserved parts of the world.”

Project AirGig is therefore one more potential platform for Internet access and communications that uses fixed wireless.

As part of Project AirGig, AT&T Labs invented low-cost plastic antennas and devices located along the power line to re-generate millimeter wave (mmWave) signals that can be used for 4G LTE and 5G multi-gigabit mobile and fixed deployments.

“These patent-pending devices can mean low hardware and deployment costs while maintaining the highest signal quality,” said Donovan.