[CW] Look What FEMA Said About BPL! ( from ARRL Newsletter)

[Justin Grenier]

> FEMA SAYS BPL WILL "SEVERELY IMPAIR" ESSENTIAL HF OPERATIONS
>
> A proverbial monkey wrench in the works for BPL? Expressing "grave
> concerns" about likely interference from unlicensed Broadband over Power
> Line (BPL) systems, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) told
> the FCC that BPL could "severely impair FEMA's mission-essential HF radio
> operations in areas serviced by BPL technology." FEMA responded December 4
> to last April's FCC BPL Notice of Inquiry, ET Docket 03-104. Now part of
> the Department of Homeland Security--the agency said its primary worry is
> BPL's potential impact on the FEMA National Radio System (FNARS) on HF.
> FNARS is FEMA's primary command and control backup medium under the
> Federal Response Plan.
>
> "FEMA has concluded that introduction of unwanted interference from the
> implementation of BPL technology into the high frequency radio spectrum
> will result in significant detriment to the operation of FEMA radio
> systems such as FNARS," FEMA asserted. "FNARS radio operators normally
> conduct communications with signals that are barely above the ambient
> noise levels." FNARS HF stations, FEMA said, typically are in residential
> areas of the sort that BPL might serve.
>
> As part of the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA's perspectives on BPL
> could carry substantial weight at the FCC, which may issue a Notice of
> Proposed Rule Making as early as February. The FCC's BPL Notice of Inquiry
> has attracted more than 5100 comments--many of them from the amateur
> community.
>
> FEMA said BPL also could render useless such "essential communications
> services" as the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES), the
> Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) and the Civil Air Patrol. FEMA and
> ARRL last year signed a Memorandum of Understanding that focuses on how
> Amateur Radio may coordinate with the agency in disasters and emergencies.
>
> Calling the HF spectrum "an invaluable and irreplaceable public safety
> resource," FEMA said there's no current alternative to HF in terms of
> meeting national security and emergency preparedness requirements at the
> national, state and local levels. The agency advised the FCC to beef up
> its Part 15 rules to ensure no increase in interference levels to existing
> FCC or NTIA-licensed communication systems. Otherwise, FEMA predicted,
> "any noise increase inevitably would diminish the ability to maintain
> essential communications" and would "directly impair the safety of life
> and property."
>
> Likewise, FEMA pointed out, amateur HF transmitters could possibly
> interfere with and interrupt BPL service, leading consumers not familiar
> with Part 15 to blame licensed radio services.
>
> Concluded FEMA: "The purported benefits of BPL in terms of expanded
> services in certain communications sectors do not appear to outweigh the
> benefit to the overall public of HF radio capability as presently used by
> government, broadcasting and public safety users."
>
> Additional information about BPL and Amateur Radio is on the ARRL Web
> site, www.arrl.org/tis/info/html/plc/. To support the League's efforts in
> this area, visit the ARRL's secure BPL Web site,
> https://www.arrl.org/forms/development/donations/bpl/.