Broad-Band Internet Via Power Sockets In Rural Romania

The Power Line Communications (PLC) which provides households phone and Internet access via the regular electric power lines made its maiden entry in Eastern Europe, or in Band village, central Romania, to be exact.

The school in Band was full of people at 10 o’clock in the morning for the official testing of the PLC. The minister for IT&C, Zsolt Nagy; the president of the Mures country council, Edita Em""ke Lokodi; and village mayor Mircea Rusu sthe same with the famous Romanian folk music singert were all present.

And Nagy was the one to make the first inaugural phone call to test the PLC system was working.

The authorities decided to invest in the development of the PLC pilot project at Band because it was one of the least connected villages to systems of communication.

So one year later and for 20,000 euros expense, authorities had something to show off for: 10 PCs, 50 phones, 50 modems and the connecting equipment and a working PLC system.

Nagy said the inauguration day was of great importance for the people of Band village, as now they were "a click away" from the world. "I am sure this is the way to go for providing access to communication network in the rural areas," Nagy added.

After six months of operation the impact on the community of the PLC system will be evaluated and a national strategy for implementing the solution countrywide will be drafted.

The costs for phone and 64kb/s Internet access stay at around 5 euros and 7 euros per household.

Companies BIT Telecom, Radiocom, and Electrica worked to bring the PLC system to the village of Band.

Translation by Anca Paduraru