"If the signals are not supposed to be radiated now, how can BPL providers guarantee that they will not be radiated from a system which does pass by a coast radio station?

"It will be too late to address this problem when a distress signal is blocked by BPL...."

Despite these concerns the TasTel trial, which delivers broadband speeds up to 200Mbps, is moving at pace with commercialization possible before the year is out.

"We are in the process of developing a plan of where we may take it. There will be an announcement in the next four to five months," said Peroni.

The BPL trial was launched by TasTel in September last year in the suburb of Tolmans Hill, at the foothills of Mt Wellington, near Hobart in Tasmania. In December, it was extended to selected areas of the regional city of Burnie.