BPL Global Installs BPL/Mesh Broadband Network in France

Thirty-Three Multi-Dwelling Units To Have Universal Internet/VoIP Access And Intelligent Home Services 

PITTSBURGH, Pa., December 13, 2007 – BPL Global™, Ltd., an international leader in Intelligent Grid software solutions, has won the Public Tender of the city of Poitiers in the southwest of France to install a comprehensive broadband solution in 33 low-income apartment buildings.

“The installation marks one of the largest broadband over power line projects in France and Europe. We will install both outdoor and indoor network solutions in the city using our unique BPL/Mesh architecture to provide the broadband network, with only two access points in the city for 2,500 apartments,” said Mickael Le Port, BPL Global’s Strategic Account Director for Western Europe . “In the buildings we will deploy our MasterBoxTM solution, which carries multiple services, including universal Internet access, VoIP telephony, building energy management, home automation and security services.”

The MasterBox™ solution is an “all-in-one” enclosure installed in the multi-dwelling unit that transforms each power outlet to be the access point to an intelligent power network.

BPL Global will provide monitoring, management and provisioning with its state-of-the-art Network Expertise software platform, which is essential to service providers.

Internet access is very expensive for the low-income population. In the region of Poitou-Charentes, 39 percent of households have Internet access. However, in low-income housing units, this drops to less than 10 percent -- three to four times less than in any other geographic zones in France.

The regional local government in Poitou-Charentes is actively working to minimize the digital divide that exists in low-income multi-dwelling units by using broadband over power line technology solutions. At the same time, they anticipate to improve environmental, security and living conditions in the city.

“Through our MasterBoxTM solution, we are providing services to improve the quality of life for a community that would otherwise not have access to the Internet. The point I’d like to highlight is that we enable more than just Internet access. We also provide residents of these buildings low cost telephony, building energy management, home automation and security services.” said Keith Schaefer, CEO of BPL Global. “Through our relationships with HABITAT 86, Logiparc and SIPEA Habitat (The city of Poitiers), we plan to offer our services to thousands of apartment buildings in the future.”

“There were several companies competing for this project, but we selected BPL Global because of its track record of working with multi-dwelling units across the globe. BPL Global has the expertise and the technology to help low-income residents receive not only Internet access, but Intelligent-Home services, which corresponded precisely to our needs for the multi-dwelling housing we provide in the city of Poitiers.” said Bernard Peterlongo, Director Technical Management and Innovation of HABITAT 86.

About BPL Global
BPL Global, Ltd. is a software solutions company dedicated to leading the transformation of how energy and information are delivered. The company provides Distribution Intelligence Solutions to electric utilities enabling an intelligent grid to more efficiently manage demand, integrate distributed energy resources, improve service reliability, and optimize cost and capital productivity. BPL Global partners with local utilities, ISPs, equipment suppliers and financiers to create end-to-end solutions integrating the best in software, communications, hardware and managed services to aggressively deploy our solutions around the world. Our applications provide the critical foundation for a coordinated, intelligent grid to deliver energy more efficiently for a greener environment.