Presented on August 19, 2005

You can almost hear the earth moving as broadband over power line (BPL) vendors and integrators report countless utilities renewing efforts to build BPL business models that work.

In European, Latin American and some Asian utility markets a lack of telecom and cable TV may be the driving force.

In the US most experts agree utility applications are the key goal -- and utility representatives tell us they've got questions about how to tweak their business models to make BPL a winning proposition.

Learn about the wide variety of variables in creating the perfect BPL business model from this panel of experts:

• Walter Adams, vice president for commercial services, Communications Technologies (COMTek)
  
  
• Joseph Cufari, vice president of business development, Current Communications
  
  
• Shawn Cullingford, vice president of engineering, Shpigler Group

Find out answers to these questions and dozens of others posed by professionals in the field just like you:

• Is it cost effective to predict the failure of a grid element?
  
  
• Are enough utility applications available to make BPL affordable today?
  
  
• How does a utility quantify savings BPL offers in a way that's tangible and credible to decision makers and regulators?
  
  
• Do utility applications alone justify the cost of BPL for utilities that don't want into the retail broadband game?

Don't miss this chance to find out how the unique features of your distribution grid fit with the latest BPL technology to create a "smart grid" that executives, shareholders, regulators and customers will agree benefits from being lit up with broadband.

Meet the speakers

Walter Adams, vice president for commercial services, Communications Technologies (COMTek).  COMTek became probably America's first BPL integrator when approached by the Manassas power utility to run the nation's first commercial BPL deployment.   Manassas asked that its entire grid be lit with BPL for utility applications such as outage and reconnection notification at every transformer plus public service benefits such as security and traffic cameras, automated traffic lights and much more.

Joseph Cufari, vice president of business development, Current Communications.  Current made big headlines in the general press recently as Goldman Sachs, Google and Hearst agreed to invest a total of about $100 million in the BPL hardware vendor/system integrator and operator. Current teamed with Cinergy to deliver the nation's largest commercial BPL deployment and the firm is poised to take its experience in Ohio to many more utilities around the US and abroad.

Shawn Cullingford, vice president of engineering, Shpigler Group.  As a consultancy Shpigler Group practically invented the BPL business model.  The firm helped countless utilities craft BPL business models and trials and the firm saw so much opportunity that it began offering integrator/operator services last year to put those BPL business plans to work.  Shpigler Group's first partner as integrator/operator is Michigan's Consumers Energy.  Cullingford was hired to design networks, having built BPL projects for Pennsylvania Power & Light.

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