New Delhi: With Delhi Technological University's (DTU) aim to revolutionize the information technology at a fraction of a cost, it aims to utilize power lines for high-speed communication, allowing access to high-speed internet connection, video surveillance, e-governance, distance education, real-time TV streaming and various other applications.

As the research work on Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) in the university is on the verge of completion, operating gadgets kept at home would soon be possible from your office.

The university flagged off its BPL research in July 2007 and is slated to submit its final report to the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology on March 31, 2010.

The project funding is a cumulative account of both the Ministry and New Delhi Power Limited (NDPL), with the former contributing 70% while the latter, 25%.

Vishal Verma, principal investigator from DTU, said, "Alipur, a village on the GT Karnal road, (which had one of the worst possible electricity infrastructure) underwent a pilot project which tested ok."

Crossing the bar of the present 100 MBPS broadband connection speed, the BPL promises just the double along with a compatible connection within half an hour.

Verma further adds that, "Unlike the conventional practice of branched network or tertiary network, the BPL is fast as the central point is connected to all the nodes which is directly in line with the central server. The injection point connects every user, which does not require any additional infrastructure. It needs just one component at the power line and the neighbourhood or the whole building can be connected within 30 minutes."

The ministry has granted this project as part of its e-governance initiative in rural areas.

Installing broadband connections require extensive investments in order to reach all homes and business establishments by using diverse technologies such as fiber optics, satellite, wireless radio (Wi-Max / Wi-Fi), coaxial cable, and telephone twisted pair (DSL).

BPL, however, has an edge over the broadband, as it involves no tedious installation process along with relatively-low entry costs because it requires no wiring changes to enable broadband connection as it can be accessed from any outlet and makes use of existing power grids without adding a single new cable.

The device just needs to be connected to the plug and the internet becomes accessible.

"There are no limitations, apart from facilitating implementation of e-governance, to the services that can be provided over power line technology," Verma said.

Some of the established applications are high-speed internet access, Voice Over IP (VoIP), video and audio on demand, real time TV streaming, video conferencing, video surveillance systems, tele-medicine, traffic and environmental monitoring, e-governance, distance learning, online electrical power metering, load management, system monitoring and outage reporting.