An American start up company called Nethercomm from the San Diego area has developed technology which they say will enable them to send broadband via natural gas pipelines. The technology is known as Broadband in Gas (BiG). By using this BiG technology the company will be able to send signals from a local broadband network node through the natural gas pipelines into a business or home. Normally the twists and turns in a gas pipeline would cause the wireless signals to lose strength but the company is using ultra-wide band (UWB) which makes it resilient to disturbances in the pipeline. UWB sends out pulses of radio energy across such a wide range of frequencies that even if some of the data packets are lost, others can easily make it to their required destination such as a business or a household. The signal used in UWB is far too low-power to ignite the gas in the pipes.

Nethercomm’s core technology harnesses basic physics to provide enhanced efficient wireless signal transmission. BiG technology uses carrier-free wireless radio frequency transmission similar to a conventional radio station which broadcasts through the atmosphere. The BiG signals travel through the hollow centre of the existing natural gas distribution pipes like a coaxil cable, with the gas providing a conductive private atmosphere. The technology is still in the early stages of development and not everyone is convinced that it will work. But Nethercomm believes that when BiG is fully developed it will provide twice the connectivity of fiber-optics at essentially the same installed cost per customer as DSL. They also believe that their technology will ultimately enable broadband companies to deliver video, internet and voice to customers and businesses wirelessly.