[HoustonHam] Re: [Antennas] FW: ARLB030 FCC Adopts New BPL Rules

[Mac McCullough]

Well it could have been much worse.. so to me it appears the Amateur and
ARRL community have pushed hard and at the very least made a good inroad,
and that if we keep pinging away at every instance of this nuisance, we will
prevail even more.. ymmv, but these thoughts are my own..   mac/mc



Located 46 miles due North of the Alamo, and 121 miles due South of the
Western White House.   see my website at  www.collinsandharrisradios.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chris Boone" <CBoone at earthlink.net>
To: "'Antennas'" <antennas at mailman.qth.net>; <txham at mailman.qth.net>;
<TexasHam at yahoogroups.com>; <houstonham at mailman.qth.net>; "VHF list"
<vhf at w6yx.stanford.edu>; <HoustonScan at yahoogroups.com>; "tdxs"
<tdxs-list at moonbounce.n5iq.org>
Sent: Friday, October 15, 2004 5:07 PM
Subject: [Antennas] FW: ARLB030 FCC Adopts New BPL Rules


> Well, it happened!!!
>
> Chris
> WB5ITT
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ARRL Web site [mailto:memberlist at www.arrl.org]
> Sent: Friday, October 15, 2004 12:38 PM
> To: cboone at earthlink.net
> Cc: Subscribed ARRL Members:
> Subject: ARLB030 FCC Adopts New BPL Rules
>
>
> SB QST @ ARL $ARLB030
> ARLB030 FCC Adopts New BPL Rules
>
> ZCZC AG30
> QST de W1AW
> ARRL Bulletin 30  ARLB030
> >From ARRL Headquarters
> Newington CT  October 15, 2004
> To all radio amateurs
>
> SB QST ARL ARLB030
> ARLB030 FCC Adopts New BPL Rules
>
> Meeting October 14 in open session, the FCC adopted revised Part 15
> (unlicensed services) rules to specifically regulate broadband over
> power line (BPL) systems. Specifics of the new rules in a Report and
> Order in ET Docket 04-37 won't be known for a few weeks. In comments
> before voting, three members of the Commission, including Chairman
> Michael K. Powell, specifically mentioned the concerns of Amateur Radio
> operators and expressed either assurances or hope that the new BPL rules
> will adequately address interference to licensed services. Republican
> FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin addressed Amateur Radio's and
> broadcasters' interference concerns in his written statement. ARRL
> President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, said he was encouraged to see the
> Commission acknowledge interference to Amateur Radio as a genuine issue
> in the BPL proceeding.
>
> ''What the League has done in the last year and a half on this issue
> showed in the Commission's public meeting today,'' Haynie said. He cited
> the FCC's approval of three major points that the League had been
> pushing for: Certification of BPL equipment instead of verification, a
> requirement for a public BPL database--something the BPL industry did
> not want--and mechanisms to deal swiftly with interference complaints.
>
> Anh Wride of the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology (OET),
> outlined the draft R&O and acknowledged that Access BPL devices ''pose a
> somewhat higher potential for interference to licensed radio services
> than typical Part 15 devices.'' But, Wride went on to say, ''we believe
> the specific benefits of BPL warrant acceptance of a small degree of
> additional risk, and that this interference potential can be
> satisfactorily managed.''
>
> Commissioner Michael Copps, a Democrat, said he remains concerned about
> interference to Amateur Radio users. ''I take the concerns of this
> community very seriously and believe that the FCC has an obligation to
> work hard to monitor, investigate and take quick action, where
> appropriate, to resolve harmful interference.''
>
> Copps said if interference occurs, ''we must have a system in place to
> resolve it immediately,'' and he expressed the hope that the new rules
> would include such ''rapid turnaround'' provisions. Copps, who dissented
> in part with the R&O, raised the question of whether utility ratepayers
> should have to ''subsidize an electric power company's foray into
> broadband.''
>
> The Commission's other Democrat, Jonathan S. Adelstein, said the
> interference question made the proceeding a challenging one because it
> had to accommodate concerns raised by Public Safety licensees, federal
> government users and Amateur Radio operators. ''These are important
> services that we need to protect from harmful interference,'' Adelstein
> said.
>
> Adelstein also said that while it's clear that some BPL systems can
> co-exist with existing licensees, others ''haven't fared so well.'' He
> said those systems shouldn't be deployed commercially until it's assured
> that they won't cause harmful interference.
>
> Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy, a Republican, said the FCC had to
> ''make some hard compromises'' to deal with questions about
> interference. But she expressed confidence in ''technical solutions.''
>
> Chairman Powell called it ''a banner day'' for communications in the US
> because, he said, BPL promises ''ubiquitous service to all Americans at
> affordable rates.'' The chairman, a Republican, conceded that BPL will
> affect some spectrum users--including ''all those wonderful Amateur
> Radio operators out there.'' Powell said the FCC has taken Amateur Radio
> interference concerns seriously from the start and has taken care to
> ensure that protections are in place ''to allow that service to
> continue.'' At the same time, Powell implied that the FCC must balance
> the benefits of BPL against the relative value of other licensed
> services.
>
> ''But let me underscore the potential for the American economy is too
> great, too enormous, too potentially groundbreaking to sit idly by and
> allow any claim or any possible speculative fear keep us from driving
> this technology and drive America into the broadband future.''
>
> ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, suggested that Powell was overstating the
> necessity of yet another broadband pipeline. ''It's astonishing to me
> that the chairman of the FCC can talk about needing a 'third way' to
> provide broadband to consumers when multiple technologies already are
> available, including wireless broadband,'' he said.
>
> For more information on BPL, visit the ''Broadband Over Power Line
> (BPL) and Amateur Radio'' page on the ARRL Web site,
> www.arrl.org/bpl .
> NNNN
> /EX
>
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