BPL (Broadband over Power-Lines) or PLC (Power-Line Communications) is a technology that has been on the books for some years now, only recently though has it started to find its footing.

As the name suggests, BPL involves using existing power-lines to transmit broadband data. This revolutionary technology could be used to bridge the digital divide between rural and urban communities with regards to internet access.

Even though internet penetration rates have rocketed over the years, especially with the introduction and uptake of broadband technologies there is still a large portion of the population that have either zero or limited access to the internet. Such customers are often found in rural areas, outside the reach of broadband technologies.

BPL however, works on the premise that nearly every inhabited building throughout the country has electrical outlets, and it is these outlets that BPL services plug into.

As mentioned, the idea behind using existing power grid infrastructure to transmit data signals is not new, and in fact this is something that electricity companies use to monitor power line performance.

The reason that this technology could be so easily incorporated is because current electrical infrastructure uses an alternating current (AC), which vibrates at a different wave length to the radio-frequency (RF) waves that data uses. Therefore, they can both travel down the same wiring.

However, instead of being able to transmit the data signals at the power source (i.e. power plants), which would have been the easiest option, the data signals have to be dropped onto the lines a little closer to home. This is because at the source of the power, the voltage is so high (or "noisy") that it would cause too much interference with the data signals.

Therefore, BPL drops the data signals off onto the less "noisier" medium-voltage lines. From here the signals pass through various repeaters and couplers to ensure they reach their destination intact.