Broadband Over Gas Lines — a Pipe Dream?

prostoalex writes, "USA Today says we might see some progress in broadband over gas pipes, as startup Nethercomm (warning: Flash site) is working on the technology to deliver broadband Internet over this medium using ultrawideband radio. According to the article: 'Broadband in Gas would require installation of an ultrawideband transmitter that's linked to an Internet backbone... at a gas company's network hub. A receiver would be placed at a customer's gas meter. Build-out costs are about $200 per household, Nethercomm says. By contrast, broadband over power lines costs about $600 per household, while phone and cable TV networks each cost well over $1,000 per home to build.'" The article ends on a downbeat note. The upcoming trials that Nethercomm touts are difficult to confirm: "We're intrigued by the technology, but we never got that far in our discussions," says a gas company spokeswoman. And the ultrawideband chip company that had been working with Nethercomm, Freescale Semiconductor, has turned its attention to other projects.

Comments

So how's this gonna work?

[UbuntuDupe]

Does it tell you what the data is based on the rate of gas flow? What if there's an unexpected surge? I'd love to use this with my bank account:

"Transferring one cent from PayPal account...

Current balance: $1,854,459,234.48"

"HOLY #$%*)#(!!! Withdraw, withdraw!"