Universal Powerline Association Announces the "UPA Powerline Interop 2008 Certification"

  • The First Global Interoperability and Certification Program Event for BPL Access and In-Building Powerline Networking Applications

May 20, 2008, London - The Universal Powerline Association (UPA), a leading industry consortium providing a forum for the design and development of interoperable and open specifications for Powerline communications, today announces the launch of the UPA Powerline Interop 2008 Certification. This is the first global interoperability and certification program event for BPL Access and In-Building Powerline networking.

The program will launch with a two-day Official UPA Plugtest and Certification event on 25th and 26th June and fully supports the commercial deployment of the UPA's 200Mbps Powerline communication technology which is currently deployed around the world..

"The BPL Access and In-Building BPL markets are experiencing unprecedented growth, and as such, the industry requires comprehensive compliance and interoperability programs to ensure interoperability between Powerline products from different vendors and compatibility with existing Powerline products," said Brian Donnelly, Chairman, UPA. "With over 4.5 million UPA chipsets sold and in use globally and given the UPA's undisputed technology leadership in the BPL Access and In-Building markets, the UPA has again taken the lead in offering the first Powerline certification program for these markets. Utilities, operators, system integrators and others now have a guarantee for the success of their large scale deployments due to the UPA's rigorous testing process to verify performance, coverage, coexistence, and interoperability of UPA products."

The UPA is inviting product developers to register their UPA based product for participation in the compliance and interoperability Plugtest by 18th June with the UPA Secretariat's office. The certification event hosted by the UPA will take place at the test laboratories of the Polytechnic University, Valencia, Spain and the certification process will be overseen by experts from the Polytechnic Innovation Centre (CPI) and the international test house, ITACA. The UPA will publish a list of its certified products on the UPA website to assist utilities, operators, system integrators and others in their vendor selection.  

UPA Marketing Working Group Chairman, Daniel Drolet commented, "The UPA believes that an open standard for all segments of the Powerline industry is critical for market expansion. The UPA is working in and supporting the IEEE P1901 and ITU-T G.hn. The former focuses exclusively on Powerline networking and the latter adds coaxial and phone line networking to ensure that Powerline technology for In-Home, In-Building, and Access/BPL networking will have complete interoperability within a final standard. When a final Powerline standard is achieved that meets the goals of interoperability and the market requirements in the 3 market segments, the UPA will adopt this standard and will provide additional advanced features and functionality so that UPA members and their customers provide and achieve the most technologically advanced and best performing networks in the industry. The industry is moving well, however until the industry achieves this comprehensive goal, the UPA shall offer its own comprehensive interoperability and certification program to support the 4.5 million UPA products in use globally."

Additional details on all UPA compliance and interoperability programs are available from Don Pollock, UPA Secretariat, donald.pollock@upaplc.org +44 1780 470003

About the Universal Powerline Association
The Universal Powerline Association (UPA) is an International not-for-profit trade association working to promote global standards and regulations in the fast developing Powerline communications market. The UPA aims to catalyze the growth of Powerline technology by delivering UPA plug tested and certified products that comply with these specified standards and regulations. All products and applications designed around UPA guidelines will communicate, from simple coexistence to full interoperability. The UPA provides all Powerline players the opportunity to respond to key customer expectations with open standards, based on interoperability, security and coexistence and supported by exclusive and independent certifications, the only global guarantee of quality and confidence for high-speed power line technology available today.

Members of the UPA include: AcBel Polytech Inc., Ambient Corporation, Arteche, Belfuse Inc., Buffalo Inc., Comtrend, Corinex Communications Corp., Current Technologies International, D-Link, DS2, Freedom Digital Networks, China Gridcom Company Ltd, Ilevo (Schneider Electric Powerline Communications), Itochu Corporation, Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute, Logitec Corporation, LS Cables, Moscow City Electricity Grid, Netgear, PCN Technology, Pirelli Broadband, Planex, Power Monitors Inc., Sumitomo Electric Industries, Toshiba Electronics Europe GmbH, Toyo Networks & System Integration Co.,Ltd and Watteco.

Additional information about the UPA is available at www.upaplc.org.

UPA Media Contacts:
North America
Brian Donnelly
UPA Chairman
Phone: +1 778 371 7697
brian.donnelly@upaplc.org

Europe and ROW
Donald Pollock
UPA Permanent Secretary
Phone: + 44 178 047 0003
donald.pollock@upaplc.org

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