Broadband Internet Over Power Line for Rural Areas
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WiMAX is still around. It is still widely used for wireless Internet access especially outside the U.S. There are hundreds of WiMAX installations worldwide, but not so many in the U.S. One main wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) is Clearwire or CLEAR, a division of Sprint that still widely deploys WiMAX throughout the U.S. I have a local provider here on the eastern plains of Colorado using WiMax as the distribution layer.
What really killed WiMax in the US was LTE.
Source: Whatever Happened to WiMAX?
What really killed WiMax in the US was LTE.
Source: Whatever Happened to WiMAX?
AT&T is apparently planning to use it for mmWave spectrum deployment for 5G, so not dead yet.
On April 17, 2015, Clearwire announced Sprint would cease operations of the CLEAR 4G (WiMAX) Network and Clearwire Expedience Network on November 6, 2015.
Updated: Sprint plans to shut down WiMAX network tomorrow, says only a small percentage remain on network
I bet they are running fiber along where their lines are at, not actually pushing internet through the power lines themselves. My wife works at a Co Op and that is exactly what they are doing right now. They just bury/run the lines along where the existing power lines are. So there is actually a chance you are getting high speed internet from your co-op, just not the way you thought it was.
Many co-ops are doing this with Connect America funds. AirGig is something else that actually uses the power lines somehow.
My Co-op, Tombigbee Electric in Hamilton, Alabama has did this to about 2/3 of the service area. Ran fiber along all the lines, they even partnered with the investor owned utility that services part of the area, Alabama Power Co. to use their poles. Service is really great, I have 1Gbps/1Gbps service for $79 per month, and VoIP with them for $29 per month. They plan to cover the entirety of two counties that they serve and portions of two adjacent counties. They’re about 2/3 finished with the project, started about 2 years ago. I bet this is what the Co-op in San Angelo is doing.
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My daughter is traveling today from a workshop. I hope to find out more next week.
The problem there is that the fiber has to be x number of feet from the power lines. Cable already has that section locked and then below that is telephone. They would have to replace every pole to be longer to accommodate that new fiber span or negotiate with cable/telephone to use their space. It's not as easy as just place new fiber....
Electricity doesn’t interfere with fiber optics. Here there are many places where power lines, telephone company, cable company, and the co-op’s new fiber all share poles.
That is absolutely correct. There are very specific parameters to where on the pole you can place your utility and what distance they have to be from each other. As you say it is a safety measure and has nothing to do with interference. My last job with the phone company was Outside Plant Engineer. I actually know what I am talking about.
This will give you an idea of what I have been talking about:
The Difference in Power Space and Communication Space in the Race to Attach
The Difference in Power Space and Communication Space in the Race to Attach
Thanks Bobby. Nice article. I will look at every pole I see now and try to identify all the different cables.
It’s funny, on my visits around the country and Europe, I find myself looking at the aerial plant all the time.
PPL Electric tested the feasability of Internet via power lines here in PA in the early 2000's in conjuction with Amperion of Andover, Mass. and it fizzled. If Air Gig is ever finally deployed I'll be surprised since it's just one more of AT&T's many, many (mostly unfulfilled) promises. Are they really going to pit 5G against AirGig and spend resources on both at the same time? What is it with AT&T's self-competing obsession? They claim AirGig can help enhance 5G. Huh?? 5G is 5G, if you enhance it is it 6G? Or 5.1G? Good grief, they haven't even deployed 5G and they're talking about enhancing it? 
Not a fan of ATT but is it possible the plan on using AirGig as the backhaul for all those 5G cell distribution points that are required to support 5G? My understanding is 5G requires many more access points due to the short range of the 5G bands. It is possible for different technologies to be both complementary and competing at the same time.PPL Electric tested the feasability of Internet via power lines here in PA in the early 2000's in conjuction with Amperion of Andover, Mass. and it fizzled. If Air Gig is ever finally deployed I'll be surprised since it's just one more of AT&T's many, many (mostly unfulfilled) promises. Are they really going to pit 5G against AirGig and spend resources on both at the same time? What is it with AT&T's self-competing obsession? They claim AirGig can help enhance 5G. Huh?? 5G is 5G, if you enhance it is it 6G? Or 5.1G? Good grief, they haven't even deployed 5G and they're talking about enhancing it?
Yes. AirGig sends the signal “around” the power conductor to a 5G antenna. They are complimentary.
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