[HoustonHam] FW: ARLB013 Full US House Okays Telecoms Bill with BPL Study Language Intact

[Chris Boone]

FYI folks.....

-----Original Message-----
From: ARRL Web site [mailto:memberlist at www.arrl.org] 
Subject: ARLB013 Full US House Okays Telecoms Bill with BPL Study Language
Intact

SB QST @ ARL $ARLB013
ARLB013 Full US House Okays Telecoms Bill with BPL Study Language Intact

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ARRL Bulletin 13  ARLB013
>From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT  June 9, 2006
To all radio amateurs 

SB QST ARL ARLB013
ARLB013 Full US House Okays Telecoms Bill with BPL Study Language Intact

On a 321 to 101 vote, the US House of Representatives on June 8 passed the
Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement
(COPE) Act of 2006. The House-passed bill, HR 5252, leaves intact language
that required the FCC to study the interference potential of BPL systems. US
Rep Mike Ross, WD5DVR (D-AR), one of two radio amateurs in Congress,
sponsored the BPL study requirement, ''Study of Interference Potential of
Broadband over Power Line Systems,''
contained in Title V, Section 502 of the complex bill. HR 5252 now goes to
the US Senate, where a separate--and very different--telecoms bill, the
Communications, Consumer's Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006 (S
2686) is still in committee.

''We were concerned that a representative might be persuaded by BPL
interests to introduce an amendment to delete or dilute Section 502,'' said
ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ. ''As it turns out that didn't happen, although
we had taken steps to counter it if it had. So for now our focus returns to
the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.'' Sumner says
that if similar language were introduced on the Senate side, it would be
more likely to remain when and if the House and Senate versions go to a
conference committee.

Section 502 calls on the FCC to ''conduct, and submit to the Committee on
Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, a study of the
interference potential of broadband over power line systems,'' within 90
days of the bill's enactment.

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will consider S
2686 in a markup session later this month. The ARRL has e-mailed members in
the 22 states with Senators on the committee, urging them to write seeking
support to include similar BPL study language in the Senate bill.
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