The head of the Federal Communications Commission gave his blessing on Wednesday to an emerging technology that would provide high-speed Internet service through power lines. FCC Chairman Michael Powell toured a house in suburban Maryland that had been set up to showcase the new service, which transmits e-mail, Web pages, telephone service and other data over the existing power grid and through standard electrical outlets.
In the living room, Powell listened to an Internet radio broadcast and watched the movie Ice Age on a flat-screen 42-inch television streaming from another computer miles away.

In the home office, Powell checked his voice mail over an Internet telephone and watched as a printer spat out a picture taken by a surveillance camera at the front door. He nodded approvingly at other computers scattered throughout the house that stayed online by plugging into nearby electrical outlets.
"This is within striking distance of being the third major broadband pipe into the home," Powell said. "I'm a little bummed it's not (available) in my area."
Powell's visit provided a boost for a technology that after several years of false starts could soon provide consumers with another option for high-speed Internet service. Bureau Report