by Rod Hughes

In the Bible, Christ speaks of putting new wine in old wineskins. The reference is symbolic but the upshot is that it doesn’t work. Recently RACSA, the country’s Internet monopoly, found out that putting new technology in old wiring doesn’t, either.

RACSA and JASEC, the board that administers electricity to the old capital, Cartago, ran tests to see if they could put the Internet on the same electric wiring that brings light to the city.

Eight homes were chosen but the signal collapsed frequently. Oscar Meneses, manager for JASEC, explained, “Cartago isn’t a new city and the low-voltage cables are 30 or 40 years old. They work well to carry electricty, but not the Web.”

Meneses said the old wiring obliged RACSA to raise the frequency of the signal, with the unfortunate result of interfering with AM radio reception and taxi radio frequencies. He explained that by using PLC technology and running the Internet signal parallel, theoretically Internet access should be no more distant than the nearest electrical plug-in.

The results of tests in newer urban developments have been quite encouraging, he said. Another possibility is to use medium tension lines to send signals to public places like parks, to permit wireless access.

But for poor old Cartago, it’s back to the old drawing board…