By Gene Koprowski
United Press International

Published 10/20/2004 7:52 AM
CHICAGO, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Consumers soon may be able to access high-speed, broadband Internet services over their electric power lines as well as their telephone lines.Last week, the Federal Communications Commission moved forward with a policy that, in the coming years, could lead to the development of a national network of broadband-over-power-lines services."This is a great thing to experiment with," said Tim Kurth, a senior vice president with The Lundquist Group, a consulting company in Washington D.C., and a former telecommunications policy aide to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill."If it takes off, it will be a formidable competitor to DSL and cable," Kurth told UPI's The Web.A number of companies have been experimenting with BPL Internet services, because power lines reach nearly every home and business in the country, and the service is seen as a way to make broadband Internet access ubiquitous, according to FCC officials. E-mail sciencemail-AT-upi.com