end off cable's triple play offering. Even with higher growth rates, North American household video- over-DSL penetration rates will be trailing those of the Asia-Pacific region by 2 million, in the year 2008, forecasts ABI. ON THE MENU-TELECOM SERVICES 1.2.1 Broadband Over Power Lines Although cable and DSL connections are the current broadband access leaders, a newer technology could prove attractive to millions of potential users, particularly residential and small business customers. If it ever reaches market, broadband over power lines (BPL) would turn every home and office electrical outlet into an always on Web connection, potentially providing stiff competition to cable modem and DSL service providers. The technology "could simply blow the doors off the provision of broadband," FCC chairman Michael Powell stated earlier this year. BPL works by injecting data into medium-voltage power lines. Amplifiers are required at intervals along each line to keep signal strength at an accept- able level. Conventional fiber optic or copper phone lines are used to bypass high-voltage lines, which are too electrically disruptive to carry data. The car- riers believe that ubiquitous BPL would provide broadband service to cus- tomers, including rural homes and businesses not currently served by cable modem or DSL providers, at comparable data speeds. BPL is a viable technology, says Alan Shark, president of the Power Line Communications Association, a trade group located in Arlington, Virginia. He notes that BPL's technical hurdles, such as passing signals through trans- formers, have been largely overcome. The companies are now focusing on BPL's business case. "They're trying to figure out how to bring [BPL] to the home in the most cost-effective manner." Despite its potential, BPL faces opposition in the wireless community. BPL's strongest opponent is the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the national association of amateur radio operators. If widely deployed, BPL would represent "spectrum pollution" on a level that's 