UPA Joins UPLC Broadband Power Line 2006 Conference to Present Global Vision on Open Standards; UPA Access Specification Only Open Global Specification for High-speed 200 Mbps Broadband over Power Line (BPL) Applications.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- "Utilities and operators seeking to launch a BPL network may immediately deploy high-speed products developed to the UPA Access specification for BPL products," said Chano Gomez, representing the Universal Powerline Association Presidency at the "Deep Dive" session on technical standards during the UPLC Broadband Power Line conference taking place today in Charlotte, NC.

Mr. Gomez continued, "The UPA Access specification ratified in 2005 is a global specification for both BPL access technology and in-building applications where powerline technology is deployed to extend existing backbone technologies such as fiber to the home (FTTH), DSL and coax."

The UPA specification accelerates mass rollout of high-speed, low-cost, broadband access, voice and audiovisual services, as well as utility applications for control and management operations. The specification provides for interoperability with non-UPA technologies by means of a co-existence mechanism.

"This unique feature guarantees that future versions of UPA technology will be compatible with today's specifications. High-speed powerline products on the market today that are built to the UPA specification provide the foundation for a profitable BPL business," further commented Mr. Gomez.

Products built to the UPA specification comply with global regulatory requirements for BPL including the FCC regulations. One of the key objectives of the UPA is to catalyze the growth of BPL technology. The UPA actively supports the standards setting work underway in international bodies including IEEE, ETSI, CENELEC and CISPR to deliver the recognized open standards. Driving the adoption of interoperable high-speed powerline products are the UPA technical specifications, available on the UPA's website (www.upaplc.org)

UPA members presenting at the UPLC conference including Ambient, BPL Global, Current Technologies, Corinex Communications, DS2, and Duke Energy represent the major players in the BPL market in the US and worldwide, and include equipment suppliers, utilities and chip makers.

About the Universal Powerline Association

The Universal Powerline Association (UPA) is an International not-for-profit trade association working to harmonize global standards and regulations in the fast developing powerline communications market. The UPA aims to catalyze the growth of PLC/BPL technology by delivering UPA certified products that comply with specified standards and regulations. This can range from simple coexistence to full interoperability. UPA provides all PLC/BPL players the opportunity to respond to key customer expectations with open standards, based on interoperability, security and coexistence and supported by exclusive and independent certification, the only global guarantee of quality and confidence for high-speed power line technology available today. Members of the UPA include AcBel, Ambient Corporation, BPL Global, Commax, Corinex Communications, Current Technologies International, DS2, Duke Energy, Itochu Corporation, Ilevo (Schneider Electric Powerline Communications), Naeil Community, Netgear, PCN Technology, ST&T, Sumitomo Electric Industries , Tecnocom, Toshiba and TOYO Network Systems.

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