[LeArc] BPL in Princeton, IL (2nd try)

[John Best - N9MSG]

The following was lifted from:
http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=4830_0_4_0_C


Mr. Chairman,
PRINCETON, ILLINOIS:
http://www.bcrnews.com/articles/2004/08/20/news/news2.txt

Princeton defends broadband choice

By Donna Barker BCR Staff
PRINCETON -- The city of Princeton says it knew what it was doing when it
chose to provide high speed Internet service through broadband over power
lines.

Jason Bird, superintendent of Princeton's Electric Distribution Department,
said Friday the city has done its research into the broadband over power
lines project.

During the last two Princeton City Council meetings, members from the
American Radio Relay League have questioned the city's choice of BPL, saying
the broadband lines would cause too much interference to other radio
frequencies, including ambulance, law enforcement and aviation communication
systems. According to the objectors, BPL programs in four test sites have
already been closed.

Bird disagreed with those and other statements given by the ARRL.

In a press release issued Friday morning, Bird said the city has contacted
the Illinois State Police, and their officials say they are unaware of any
complaint filed with the Federal Communication Commission about BPL
interference in Illinois. The state police have even accepted an invitation
to observe the BPL pilot project in Princeton, Bird said.

Bird said he has also contacted BPL test site officials at Manassas, Va.,
which according to some opponents to the project, had shut down its BPL
system due to interference problems. Bird said Manassas has not shut down
its system and has not had interference issues. Manassas has actually hooked
up several hundred customers to the BPL system, Bird said.

Bird also questioned whether Manassas, which is about 20 miles from Dulles
Airport in Washington, D.C., could have operated its BPL system, if it had
caused interference problems with the Dulles Airport radio frequency system.

According to Bird, the North Carolina BPL test site will not be shut down
because of interference problems, but because the city has been unable to
identify a partner to serve as an Internet Service Provider. The North
Carolina project was tested for interference by the Deputy Chief of the
Federal Communication Commission because of complaints issued by ham
operators, Bird said. No interference was detected, Bird said.

"MORE...

tech geek | POSTED: 08.21.04 @06:37

CONT`N...

"The city of Princeton has done its homework on this project," Bird said.
"Documents from commissioners of the FCC can be provided showing their
support for this technology."

Bird said FCC chairman Mike Powell recently said the future is bright for
powerline broadband.

Princeton Electric Department crews are getting ready to install a fiber
optic system as the inner core for Princeton's high speed Internet
telecommunications systems. The city will receive 66,000 feet of fiber optic
lines in the next few days. City crews will then be trained and then install
the 11 miles of fiber optic lines, a job Bird hopes to begin by Sept. 7.
Bird would like to see it completed by the end of September.



The fiber optic system will provide the core base for the city's high speed
telecommunication system with a more extensive BPL test program of 50
customers. Bird said he'd like to see that pilot project begin by the end of
the year. The BPL test program will last as long as necessarily, probably
run 30 to 120 days, he said. The BPL test program will focus on businesses
on both sides of Main Street, from Warren Street to Central Avenue.

According to Bird, the city of Princeton and its local Internet Service
Provider, Connecting Point of Peru, have not yet determined the monthly cost
to customers for BPL service. Manassas and Cinergy, another BPL project
site, are charging its customers less than $30 per month for high speed
broadband. Bird said he expects Princeton to remain in the same ball park as
other BPL sites.

Bird said he hopes BPL could be available city-wide by May or June.

http://www.bcrnews.com/articles/2004/08/20/news/news2.txt

tech geek | POSTED: 08.21.04 @06:42


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