Internet users in Germany will soon have a shockingly innovative way to access the Net

Internet users in Germany will soon have a shockingly innovative way to access the Net, when RWE Powerline rolls out Internet services over a small part of its power grid in July. The technology is called Power Line Communications (PLC), and it could change the way many people get online. RWE Powerline is a subsidiary of RWE, Germany's largest electricity provider. Right now we're the only company in the world doing this," said RWE Powerline spokesman Andreas Preuss. Passing data over electric wires is a relatively old idea, and many electric companies have already been using their networks to send data within their grids. Basically, data is transferred over high-tension wires just like electricity and then is stepped down and passed through a special transformer located at the local power substations. Each transformer will be able to serve up to 200 households. From substation, data is conducted through low-tension wires into each home. A specially designed modem then interprets the data in a similar way to conventional modems. The modems, developed RWE's partner in the project, Swiss Ascom, can then be plugged into any electric socket in the house. If RWE's program proves successful, the telephone companies -- which have been painfully slow in rolling out DSL across the continent -- could very well have some stiff competition on their hands. Users will have to purchase a special modem for about $160 –- roughly the same price of a DSL modem -- and then pay a $23 monthly rate that will allow them to transfer 250 megabytes. Additional data transfer will cost 6 cents per megabyte.