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Gas Pipe Internet Access Point? Seems to Be Reality

Internet from a Gas Pipe Is Nearly Real

by Yaroslav Lyssenko

[ 11/20/2005 | 05:03 PM ]

While industry leading companies are trying to find ways to cover as much area as possible with such Internet carrying technologies as WiFi and WiMAX, other companies are exploring other possibilities and sometimes come up with the most unexpected ideas.

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CNET News.com reports that a small San Diego company called Nethercomm is developing a way to use ultra wideband wireless signals to transmit data at broadband speeds through natural-gas pipes. The company claims its technology will be able to offer 100Mb/s to every home, which is more than enough to provide voice, video and high-speed Internet access.

“When I first heard about it, it seemed pretty outrageous, but the more we talked to Nethercomm and other experts in the industry, the more we realized that it could be a viable technology that could revolutionize the natural-gas industry. Of course, we have to see if it really works. There’s been no proof of concept yet,” said Joe Posewick, president of EN Engineering, an engineering firm that helps natural gas companies build distribution facilities.

Nethercomm is adapting ultra wideband radio transmitters and receivers to send wireless signals through the natural-gas pipe at the same time the pipe is delivering gas fuel. Ultra wideband, or UWB, is a developing communication technology that delivers very high-speed network data rates, but at higher power levels it can interfere with other wireless signals, explains CNET News.com.