(FORTUNE Magazine) – WITH THE FCC'S DECISION IN MID-October to endorse the rollout of broadband service by utility companies, suddenly the tech world is buzzing that broadband over power lines (BPL) will be the next big thing. Move over, Comcast. Hello, Con Ed!

The idea is simple: Utilities would send out radio signals over electricity lines, then BPL customers would plug their computers straight into any socket, and--voilà!--instant Internet. Right now there are several BPL rollouts across the country (including a partnership of Con Edison, Earthlink, and Ambient that will bring BPL to New York City in November), and the FCC ruling is bound to spur more investment.

Compared with rivals, BPL is cheap for providers to install--about $120 per household, vs. $1,000 for cable or DSL. And BPL seems especially promising as a way of getting high-speed access to the rural areas that DSL and cable lines don't yet reach.

Then there are the downsides: stiff competition, especially from WiMax and Wi-Fi, which can easily reach unwired homes. In terms of technology, BPL still has a way to go. Early trials demonstrated major airwave interference, and ham radio operators have been particularly vocal about their opposition to BPL. Steve Brash, a spokesman for Cincinnati utility and BPL leader Cinergy, says that problems have been exaggerated and that new transformers address any issues. BPL also recently lost steam when AT&T, as part of Ma Bell's strategy to focus on business customers, pulled out of a Silicon Valley trial with PG&E.

Whether BPL will emerge as a real threat depends on how quickly notoriously slow-moving utility companies can team up with telcos to offer the service. Says Irwin Wechsler, an AT&T Labs veteran who has worked on DSL, cable, and BPL projects: "You've got to put a rhino and an elephant in the room and make them dance." -- Christine Y. Chen