New BPL Trial in Queanbeyan, NSW

Full details have now emerged about the latest BPL trial in Queanbeyan, NSW. The trial was announced by Country Energy on the 15th March and is expected to be operational for at least 6 months from May this year.

The BPL trial plans to pass 300 households in the Queanbeyan CBD and Jerrabomberra areas, and will provide both access broadband and electricity network management information.

Freshtel will provide an Internet Telephony service to participating customers who, in addition to receiving a modem and access to the broadband service, will receive a free Binatone cordless phone and $30 per month of Freshtel call credit.

Country Energy have been "trialling" BPL in Queanbeyan for several years using the older generation 45Mb/s DS2 chipset based Mitsubitishi equipment, producing emission levels measured up to 55dB above the expected ambient noise levels on the 7MHz amateur band. This new trial will use Schneider Electric (Ilevo) equipment using the later generation 200Mb/s chipset, as used in the Mt Beauty BPL trial.

Country Energy, which is owned by the NSW State Government, has around 195,000 kilometres of powerlines and 1.4 million power poles, and offers retail electricity in five states and territories. It employs more than 3,900 employees serving more than 870,000
customers.

Country Energy has provided the following map of the trial area, simply click on the map to display a larger version.

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