An ambitious plan for using power lines to deliver fast Internet service to 2 million Dallas-area homes collapsed Thursday, when Oncor agreed to buy the system.

Current Communications said it will sell its so-called smart grid of networking equipment to the utility for $90 million.

Current expects to close the deal in a few weeks.

DirecTV customers who get Internet service through Current's network will probably lose service then.

"Oncor is not in the telecommunications business, and it has no plans to get into the telecommunications business," said Chris Schein, a spokesman for the Dallas-based company.

DirecTV has used Current's network to sell broadband over power lines to customers in the first 64,000 homes to be wired for the service.

The plan had been to expand the DirecTV service area – and increase the number of BPL retailers – as Current attached networking equipment to more power transformers and expanded the smart grid across the region.

Before news of the sale, predictions about BPL's potential impact varied widely.

Some experts thought new competition would force cable and phone companies to boost the speed and slash the cost of Internet service. Others doubted that BPL providers would undercut incumbents enough to start price wars.

That debate will be settled in other cities.

Here in Dallas, residents should still be among the first in the nation to see how much smart grids can improve power networks.

Oncor owns many of the power lines and poles across Texas and charges regulated rates to carry electricity.

The $90 million payment to Current buys the equipment that Current has been building on top of Oncor's poles.

That equipment transmits information from meters, transformers and other far-flung devices to Oncor's central computers – information that allows Oncor to save energy, prevent outages and slash maintenance costs.

"We've already used this technology to find problems before they led to outages," Mr. Schein said, "and the system will only get better."