CE Manufacturers Establish Global Alliance to Promote Home Networking Over Powerlines

Consumer Electronics Powerline Communications Alliance (CEPCA), a not-for-profit industry organization whose mission is to ensure co-existence between various high-speed, powerline communication (PLC) systems for use in the home, today formally announced its establishment.

CEPCA was initiated by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Panasonic), Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Mitsubishi Electric) and Sony Corporation (Sony) in January of this year, and on this occasion of its formal establishment, eight leading companies including Hitachi, Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Pioneer Corporation, Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd, Sony Corporation, Toshiba Corporation and Yamaha Corporation, have joined.

CEPCA will hold its kick-off meeting in the San Francisco Bay Area this July, and companies interested in joining are invited to visit the organization's web site at www.cepca.org for additional information. Following the kick-off meeting, a CEPCA office will be opened in Oregon to respond to inquiries and provide information to potential new members.

As one of its first tasks, the association will form collaborative liaison relationships with other powerline communication groups, and develop specifications to enable co- existence among the various PLC technologies. Completed specifications are expected to be in place by the fourth quarter of 2005.

"As a manufacturer ready to use available PLC technologies in its CE products, Panasonic welcomes a consortium that will help ensure these technologies work in customers' homes. CEPCA's co-existence specification will become essential as more power companies provide broadband access to homes already using PLC networks," said Paul Liao, President, Panasonic Research and Development Corporation of America.

"CEPCA will pave the way for fast expansion of the PLC business. The main target is to establish a new standard as well as providing new ideas for different uses of PLC. Mitsubishi Electric is proud to have such an opportunity to work with other excellent CEPCA members in the promotion of PLC products," said Yasuyuki Ito, general manager, PLC Marketing Department, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation.

"Being part of CEPCA is an exciting opportunity for Sony to work closely with other leading companies to develop PLC specifications. The co-existence of multiple PLC technologies in the home is important for all of us," said James Williamson, vice president of the Technology Standards Office, Sony Electronics Inc.