It seems the idea of broadband down power lines has been dug up again by IBM.

Nick Farrell over at Fudzilla writes that IBM and its new partner International Broadband Electric Communications (say that five times fast)feel that they can enter the market in rural areas that do not have other broadband options.

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Now IBM throwing its considerable weight behind the idea although with a much scaled back vision. Using some low-interest federal loans, IBM is partnering with a small newcomer called International Broadband Electric Communications to try to make the idea work in rural communities that don't have other broadband options.

IBM thinks that it is only economically viable in rural areas where technology suppliers in the industry are smaller players without large budgets for research and advertising. New technology means that the old problem of electric broadband interfering with other wireless communication could be a thing of the past. The new generation of electric cable wireless can switch frequency when it encounters interference