[BCVHFA] ARLB007 House Committee Okays Telecoms Bill with BPL-Interference Study Amendment

[K8CM]

From: ARRL Web site <memberlist at www.arrl.org>
Subject: ARLB007 House Committee Okays Telecoms Bill with 
BPL-Interference  Study Amendment

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ARRL Bulletin 7  ARLB007
 From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT  April 28, 2006
To all radio amateurs

SB QST ARL ARLB007
ARLB007 House Committee Okays Telecoms Bill with BPL-Interference 
Study Amendment

The US House Energy and Commerce Committee's version of the 
Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement (COPE) Act of 
2006 includes an amendment requiring the FCC to study the 
interference potential of BPL systems. The panel voted April 26 to 
send the much-talked-about "telecoms rewrite" bill to the full House 
for its consideration. "Outstanding news!" was the reaction of ARRL 
CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ.

"This is a major victory for the ARRL," he exulted, noting that 
the  amendment "received significant  pposition" from utility 
companies.  Rep Mike Ross, WD5DVR (D-AR), proposed the amendment, 
and, with the support of Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX), the 
committee agreed by voice vote to include it in the bill. "This puts 
the House Energy and Commerce Committee on record as having concerns 
about BPL interference," Sumner said.

A year ago, Ross sponsored House Resolution 230 (H Res 230), which 
calls on the FCC to "reconsider and revise rules governing broadband 
over power line systems" based on a comprehensive evaluation of their 
interference potential to public safety and other licensed radio services.

"Hundreds of ARRL members who wrote their congressional 
representatives in support of Rep Ross's H Res 230 helped to achieve 
this week's success with the COPE Act amendment," Sumner observed.

A statement released by Ross's office notes that his amendment, which 
received unanimous committee  support, "would guarantee that valuable 
public safety communications and Amateur Radio operators are not 
subject to interference." One of two radio amateurs in the US House, 
Ross said infrastructure-free Amateur Radio, "often overlooked in 
favor of flashier means of communication," can maintain communication 
in  disasters that bring more vulnerable technology to its knees. Ham 
radio operators "are often the only means of communication attainable 
in a devastated area," Ross said.

"I believe it is imperative that the interference potential of BPL is 
thoroughly examined and comprehensively evaluated to ensure that 
deployment of BPL, which I do support, does not cause radio 
interference for Amateur Radio operators and first responders who 
serve our communities," Ross added.
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