Fiji, Cooks Explore PLC Possibility

When it comes to the business of telecommunications, anything can happen. Take for instance the possibility of a power utility using its infrastructure to provide voice and data services to ordinary households.

In layman's terms, the average consumer can now get telephone and Internet services by simply plugging telephones and computers into their power sockets at home if the power supplier is also running a Power Line Communications (PLC) business. The PLC concept is reportedly working in developed countries but it has yet to find its way into the Pacific islands. Well, not for the next one or two years anyway.

According to Tony Neil, executive director of the Fiji-based Pacific Power Association (PPA), the technology is not unknown to members but its availability would, more than anything else, rely on economy of scale.

Of PPA's 25 utility members, ten have a total energy output of less than ten megawatts each, making them unlikely to tap into the new technology.

There was a presentation done to our members in our 2001 annual general meeting which talked about PLC. But there was not much interest then because there was more focus on other core issues like improving efficiency.

"But the technology has been around for over 50 years and is now available in some developed countries," said Neil. He sees only a handful of islands potentially in the position to adopt this technology because they have comparatively larger markets.

Among his pick from PPA member countries are Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, American Samoa, Guam, Fiji and French Polynesia.

At the moment, Fiji and Cook Islands are the only countries in the region known to be exploring the possibilities of delivering PLC services.

The Fiji Electricity Authority (FEA) is already miles ahead with its own project, done in association with the German company Bender Information and Systemtechnology.

FEA chairman Joe Mar had earlier indicated that the company's infrastructure had passed with flying colours when the first test was done by Bender last year.

The test, said Mar, showed the company's infrastructure could support a maximum Internet speed of 25 MegaBits per second; super-fast, according to the experts.

Little doubt then that FEA is very serious about this project. To begin with, it already has the infrastructure so there is no need to build another one. More importantly, with a customer base of 125,000, it reaches more households in Fiji than Telecom Fiji, the sole domestic carrier and exclusive licence holder.

For its part, Bender has been reported to be looking for funding from the European Union and the World Health Organisation, both of whom have expressed interest in the project because of its potential to penetrate the rural areas. While Mar would not divulge any further details on the progress so far, it is understood the second stage‹which involved doing pilot tests‹has already started.

One education institution confirmed that a trial is being run there. Dean of the Fiji School of Medicine Dr Wame Baravilala said FEA was doing PLC tests in the building but met with some difficulty because of the old copper wiring. Another institution, it's understood may be approached for trials by the FEA is the University of the South Pacific. Since PLC is essentially eating into the business of telecom companies, power utilities like FEA that want to turn their infrastructure into money-making ventures will have to settle for the niche in the market.

In developed countries where PLC is now a commercial product, the energy-cum-communications companies are going to the rural areas that the telecom companies have labelled as non-profitable.

In Fiji, where the service provider market is regulated, the theme of FEA's licence pitch to the Government is based on education, particularly the rural schools and their access to quality distance learning through the availability of the Internet. FEA is careful though that it does not step on anyone's toes. Last year, it extended an unofficial invitation to the sole domestic carrier Telecom Fiji Limited to participate in the project which the latter declined.

But if the project is successful in Fiji, indications had been given by Mar that the technology will be taken to other Pacific islands countries.

He even has bigger plans, one being that the entity be the sole distributor of PLC products and services in the region. For the Cook Islands, the word from PPA is that the situation is more of a wait-and-see. If FEA succeeds, then Cook Islands will lend itself to the test.

But is there room for such a technology in the region?

Neil believes there is room for at least alternatives in the telecommunications market.

He advises though that utilities in the region should shop around for PLC service providers before going to testing stage and for companies like FEA which is already at that stage, it would be ideal to share information with other members. The technology is ideal in the region and can provide competition to the telecommunications companies.

"But there is probably a need for islands countries to upgrade their infrastructure to the standard that will support PLC," said Neil. While competition is indeed welcome in some countries, what many would be wanting to see is whether it will be able to bring down the cost of communications in the islands.