Ham Radio at risk from mains broadband - ABS-CBNNEWS.COM

Ham Radio at risk from mains broadband - ABS-CBNNEWS.COM

LONDON - Plans to send Internet broadband signals down mains electricity cables rather than telephone lines could hit the radio hams whose transmissions were so vital in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami, New Scientist magazine reported on Wednesday.
The technology is being pushed by power companies keen to compete with traditional broadband suppliers and get a slice of the profits from the demand for fast Internet connection.
The downside is that packets of Internet data pulsing down unshielded mains cables makes the cables behave like aerials that send short-wave interference beaming out over a wide area, the magazine reports.