Horizontal Deployment Advances with Technology That Has No Borders

As an example of worldwide horizontal deployment, President Kobayashi points to the case of Brazil. The project improves the level of education by installing Internet-enabled computers in 180,000 public schools all over Brazil. As a low-cost and environmentally friendly means of constructing networks in schools, APTEL, the non-profit group whose goals are to promote the Brazilian government and the Brazilian industries, chose HD-PLC, since existing power lines can be used. Installation is now in process.

This case in Brazil was originally based on the technological know-how gathered from the trials at junior high schools in Japan. Since the trials used a generally available infrastructure, the power lines, it was possible for the Brazilian schools to implement the same exact plan. Furthermore, with international standardization, business chances will expand worldwide with horizontal deployment of these cases. Because issues such as the digital divide and economic disparities are world wide issues not just limited to Brazil, the potential demand for HD-PLC is enormous.

• HD-PLC Alliance is already in cooperation with organizations such as APTEL of Brazil and IGRS of China

‘If the application is limited to a certain country or a region and cannot be widely used, the technology developed for will not spread to other areas. It has now been guaranteed that applications using HD-PLC can easily be spread worldwide - that is the significance of the new standardization by IEEE P1901,’ said Kobayashi.

Adoption of HD-PLC Steadily Widening in China

• Kobayashi speaks of the outlook of HD-PLC in the front of the HD-PLC-based street light developed by Topco Technologies Corp. of Taiwan
This street light which can be remotely controlled is also produced by HD-PLC’s international deployment

When talking of applications using HD-PLC expanding worldwide, China, with such a large amount of land, cannot be ignored. In China, IGRS (Intelligent Grouping and Resource Sharing), an industry group with 122 companies as members (as of February 1, 2009), drew up a plan in July 2008 to spread the adoption of PLC using HD-PLC in China. Japanese HD-PLC Alliance officials gave their speech in November, and a working group was established in December 2008. IGRS is deeply involved in setting up a national standard for China. Kobayashi says that it’s not “an exaggeration to say that ‘having IGRS’s approval’, basically guarantees wider adoption of HD-PLC in China”.

IGRS officials have already visited the HD-PLC Test House, and they have started making plans for specific usage with the cooperation of HD-PLC Alliance. “Technological know-how and technological information of HD-PLC cultivated in Japan are getting attention from various countries and regions including China” says Kobayashi. Business chances of systems using HD-PLC will no doubt increase in the future.