The powerful consumer electronics trio of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and Sony Corp., have joined forces to bring some law and order to high-speed powerline communications in the home.

The trio used the CES show in Las Vegas as a stage to announce they have established an alliance to create broadband powerline specifications, allowing various powerline audio, video and data networking systems to connect without glitches.

Tentatively dubbed the CE-Powerline Communication Alliance (CEPCA), the group will promote powerline-capable home networking worldwide by encouraging other consumer electronics and information technology companies to collaborate. The three electronics makers have already been working to interoperate their powerline technologies and hope that forming the alliance will draw in other CE manufacturers to create interoperable products.

But it is not clear how or whether this organization will work with the existing HomePlug Alliance, a consortium of powerline technology providers that has already developed a set of standards for home networking applications. Mitsubishi and Sony are both members of HomePlug.

In related news, the HomePlug Alliance announced three new members — Duke Power, EchoStar Communications Corp. subsidiary EchoStar Technologies Corp., and Leviton Manufacturing Company Inc.