Despite much lobbying, the government opted not to wrestle this local loop back from the corporate super-power, or to even force the company to open up access to this critical component so that other companies could deliver broadband Internet to your house.

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But they still acknowledge that there's a huge digital divide between the haves and have-nots of broadband Net access.

Typically this rift exists between city and rural Net users and the sole concession for us country folks so far is a demand that most of us are provided with a speed that was "state-of-the-art" over a decade ago.

Gosh... I'm impressed -- not.

But what about that on-again, off-again technology which looked as if it was going to finally challenge Telecom's local-loop monopoly?

I refer to "Power Line Communications" (PLC) -- a concept which was trialed in the UK but then dismissed as impractical but which the Germans seem to have finally mastered.

New Zealand has power cables all over it. Every urban dwelling and country farm-house has a power cable connected to it. Even better -- Telecom doesn't own those cables!

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The German company which developed and now licenses the technology says that they're able to deliver data at DSL speeds -- up to 10Mbps and that the same digitally overlaid signal can be used to carry voice.

According to an Wired.com article, there is now a group called the PLC Forum which has members from 17 countries interested in adopting the technology.

Given the noise our government has made about ensuring we deliver good, reliable Net connectivity to all parts of the country, I wonder if New Zealand is a member of that group -- and if not, why not?

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