Sound too good to be true? Not if you talk to Marsilii, who is ceo and president of Reston, VA-based Main.net Power Line Communications (PLC), Inc. Marsilii's company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Israeli-based Main.net Communications, Ltd., which is already running trials for the new service in seven European countries, as well as in some Asian countries. The giant German utility MVV announced at the recent CeBIT show in Europe plans to offer power line technology to 18 towns in Germany and Austria by the second half of this year.

The primary mission of Main.net PLC, according to Marsilii, is to make broadband over power lines a reality here in North America. Being here in Virginia, he adds, is an incredible plus, given its wonderful talent base, as well as geographic proximity to Israel. Key to Main.net's success is the technology transfer that goes on between the U.S. and Israel. Main.net PLC has been established here in the U.S. for marketing & sales and to open up the U.S. marketplace, while it continues to rely on Israel for its production and innovation, including its tremendous R&D capabilities.

"It's a perfect match in so many ways," says Marsilii. "Israel is relying on us for our ability to bring their new products into the U.S. marketplace, and we are relying on Israel for its innovation and their vast entrepreneurial and engineering talent."

With this combination of talent both in the U.S. and in Israel, Marsilii believes Main.net can make power line communications a reality where consumer demand for a better broadband solution is overwhelming, especially in light of the meltdown in the U.S. telecom industry.

"Over 60 percent of U.S. households are currently connected to the Internet, with less than 5 percent having a broadband connection," said Marsilii. "The problem in the U.S. market has been the failure of traditional providers to get the service to where the customers live. The high cost and technology limitations of xDSL, cable and wireless solutions have made these traditional providers unable to meet the demand."

Marsilii says that Main.net PLC is already working with a number of utility companies here in the U.S., helping them to transform their electrical power grids into a high-speed data network. The networks can be constructed quickly and cost effectively because they are utilizing the existing wires to carry the communications signals. "We are working with the utilities on a 'last mile' solution that delivers the bandwidth that customers’ desire, with a quality of service that they expect and at a cost they are willing to pay."

Main.net PLC has pre-commercial trials underway with St. Louis, MO based Ameren and Allentown, PA based PPL. The company is also in the first stages of a demonstration with the City of Manassas, Virginia, as part of a technology evaluation grant that the city received from the American Public Power Association (APPA). The project, entitled "A Pre-Commercial Rollout Project: High Speed Internet via Existing Electric System," will use the Main.net PLC system to "light-up" the power lines with Internet service. The demonstration will link the city’s extensive fiber backbone with the power distribution grid and demonstrate a technology that can bridge the "last-mile" divide.

Marsilii said that Main.net PLUS system is revolutionary. "The technology is commercially available today, which makes its adoption and rollout by utilities much easier and imminent than alternative broadband technologies like xDSL and cable."