Arkados and MainNet Communications Team on "Green Entertainment"

Arkados and MainNet Communications have collaborated to create commercial hardware and software solutions for Smart-Grid applications. The duo will jointly develop applications to improve the reliability and efficiency of electrical grids, connect consumer electronic devices over power lines, enable energy-saving initiatives, and deliver Broadband content to homes and offices.

 

Under the agreement, MainNet can purchase 600,000 Arkados 200 Mb/s chipsets (HomePlug AV) over the next three years. MainNet is also expected to pre-pay up to $500k for the delivery of Arkados solutions in 2008.

 

MainNet’s unique layer 2 system will be combined with Arkados’ core technology. The planed applications are expected to offer easy and seamless access to Internet-based services for the consumer over the existing electrical grid. These will also act as a window into energy savings by offering Command and Control energy applications. The companies explain that these applications help to save operational costs through energy conservation, and could contribute to a greener environment.

 

As this collaboration provides utility companies with Advanced Metering Infrastructure solutions, and consumers with access to broadband communication services, it meets with the US national policy to support the modernization of the electricity transmission and distribution system to incorporate digital information and control technology, and to share real-time pricing information with electricity customers to achieve Advanced Smart-Grid and continual environmental improvement in the production and distribution of electricity (Smart-Grid Facilitation Act of 2007).

 

Joe Marsilii, CEO of MainNet said that their company found in Arkados a strong technology partner with the same vision of what powerline communications technology can achieve. He believes that by using Arkados’ HomePlug chips with their BPL smart repetition mechanism, utility companies will get a future proof, easy to install, cost effective and secured Smart-Grid system. This scenario also enables easy ways for consumers to access on-demand broadband services, which will help to further realize the vision of the connected home.

 

“Arkados is very impressed with the rich collection of functions that MainNet’s Smart-Grid systems enable,” said Oleg Logvinov, president and CEO of Arkados in a statement.

 

Logvinov continued: “Not only do they have an extraordinary portfolio of solutions that detect, measure, and report on energy use, but they have added the additional valuable component of interaction with the consumer. Their solutions enable consumer to be actively involved in energy saving, while using that same broadband communication channel for traffic updates, weather reports, stock quotes, and entertainment options. By bridging connected devices with connected services, Arkados and MainNet are moving toward implementing the vision that our companies share.”

 

Arkados, “the HomePlug Applications Company,” delivers a universal platform that enables networking of home entertainment and computer devices using standard electricity lines.

 

MainNet Communications Ltd. is a turn-key solution and service provider of Broadband Powerline Communications , enabling fast return on investment in operating Smart-Grid applications, security and surveillance as well as broadband communication access over any electric network.