Potential of Power Line Communication Being Explored: MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets is a global market research and consulting company that publishes strategically analyzed market research reports, which serve as a business intelligence partner to Fortune 500 companies across the world.

The current report focuses on the power line communications (PLC) system market, which is expected to grow from $2.94 billion in 2013 to $7.10 billion in 2018 at a CAGR of 19.3 percent.

For many years, the PLC system Market was used for the transmission of electricity and the communication of digital information, but its potential in other areas is now being considered as well.

The advent of modern networking technologies, the emergence of the smart grid, broadband over power line, and the need for home and vehicle automation are all challenging utility and service providers to discover solutions that can deliver services to consumers at minimum cost and maximum performance.

As a result, the potential of power lines as a powerful medium to deliver not only electricity or control signals, but even full duplex high-speed data and multimedia content, is currently being explored.

PLC is of two types – narrowband PLC, which allows low data transfer rates and works at lower frequencies with hence a longer range; and broadband PLC, which allows high-speed data transfer, working at higher frequency ranges with low range.

Because of these differences in characteristics, broadband PLC is a high-revenue market while narrow PLC is a high-volume market. As a result, the global PLC unit shipment market is forecast to increase at a CAGR of 60.7 percent during the period 2013-2018, as the average selling price of narrowband PLC is less than that of broadband PLC.

The major application of PLC is in smart grid, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 18.8percent from 2013 to 2018. Hence, narrowband-PLC, which has greater potential with respect to smart grid and M2M applications, is projected to grow much more quickly.

PLC does seem to have the potential to score in certain areas, but will it live up to the actual hype that surrounds it? 

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