Two companies have announced plans to offer high-speed Internet access over electric power lines to more than two million customers in Texas – the biggest deployment of broadband service over power lines in the U.S.
Subscribers will be able to plug a small device into an electrical outlet and connect it via cable to their computers.
Under terms of an agreement, TXU Electric Delivery – the nation’s sixth largest electricity transmission and distribution company – will sign a contract to use Current Communications Group LLC’s technology to link customers to the Internet via power lines.
The deal could pose a new threat to cable and phone companies that currently provide Internet connections, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Story Continues Below
The idea of using power lines to send Internet signals has been around for years, although the technology has been plagued by difficulties.
But electrical wiring is ubiquitous, which eliminates the need to install new cables, and power-line service could expand the availability of high-speed Internet access to rural communities that traditional providers might ignore, according to the Journal.
The new service in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and elsewhere in Texas is scheduled to begin before the end of next year.