[MIham] Fw: FCC Commissioner Abernathy

[FSK]

----- Original Message -----
From: Jim Wades
To: James Wades
Sent: Saturday, September 27, 2003 21:51
Subject: FCC Commissioner Abernathy

Hello Everyone:

Inserted below is a news item from the latest ARRL Letter.  Despite the fact
that many of you receive this information directly, I am forwarding it to
insure everyone gets it.

I can not stress enough the importance of reading this news item carefully.
It clearly demonstrates how deeply some in the Bush Administration and the
FCC are apparently "in bed" with the power companies and BPL interests.
Regardless of your politics, liberal or conservative, republican or
democrat, these types of comments can not be ignored.

Regardless of past differences about ARPSC issues, CW testing, operating
modes, or any other facet of Amateur Radio, I am asking each of you to take
immediate action on these comments.  If you see them quoted in print, write
the Editor of the appropriate publication.  Send your well-thought out
comments directly to the FCC Commissioner in question (Kathleen Abernathy).

ECs......please sit down with your Emergency Manager and served agencies as
soon as possible and enlist them in the battle against BPL.  DECs, enlist
the National Weather Service in this battle.  Ask our many served agencies
to contact Congress and the Commission immediately.  Provide them with the
necessary background.  This issue affects not just Amateur Radio, but
Federal systems, public safety frequencies,  broadcast services and other
important radio systems throughout the United States.

It is extremely important to point out that BPL does not just threaten HF
activity.  Interference is present in the VHF spectrum as well, and BPL
equipment is extremely susceptible to RFI !

The time has come to write the Commission, unofficially if necessary.  We
must attack the clear and obvious bias of Ms. Abernathy.  Her actions
clearly demonstrate the fact that she is acting unethically and
irresponsibly by expressing support for this program before it has passed
through the proper regulatory process. In my personal opinion, this should
be grounds for removal from the Commission, and I have every intention of
demanding her immediate removal.

This speech, and the bias it represents, offers excellent cause to write
your Congressman or Senator.  Express your outrage at this person's obvious
unethical conduct.  Begin the process of educating our law makers about the
dangers of BPL.  Demand that our FCC Commissioners be held to the highest
standards of ethical conduct.  If they can not exercise appropriate
restraint and remain unbiased in the rule making process, they do not belong
on the Commission.

Many of the individuals making these regulatory decisions are not technical.
Many are lawyers with Corporate backgrounds.  They are not engineers.  It is
up to all of us, and our allies, to educate the people that count.

Thank you for reading my "soap box."  Regardless of any differences, let's
stand united on this one critical issue!  Please, please, please act now.
The future of Amateur Radio, both HF and VHF is at stake.

73,

Jim Wades,  WB8SIW



==>ARRL REBUKES FCC COMMISSIONER'S "BROADBAND NIRVANA" REMARKS

The ARRL has strongly objected to FCC Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy's
suggestion that Broadband over Power Line (BPL) technology will contribute
to what she described as "broadband Nirvana." Addressing the United
Powerline Council's annual conference September 22 in Arlington, Virginia,
Abernathy expressed unabashed enthusiasm for BPL and recommended a
combination of regulatory restraint and the elimination or substantial
modification of existing rules as steps along the "path to Enlightenment,"
as she put it. In a terse response faxed September 25 on behalf of the
League's 155,000 members, ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ,
asserted that Abernathy overlooked some significant issues in her Nirvana
analogy.

"Nightmare is more like it," Sumner declared. "The technical showings
submitted by the ARRL and others in response to the Commission's Notice of
Inquiry (NOI) in ET Docket No. 03-104 clearly establish that BPL is a
significant source of radio spectrum pollution. It cannot be implemented
without causing harmful interference to over-the-air radio services."

Sumner told Abernathy that while BPL industry groups, such as the one she
addressed this week, prefer to deny the evidence, the FCC is obliged to
work to a higher standard.

In its comments in response to the FCC NOI, the League characterized BPL
as "a Pandora's Box of unprecedented proportions" and said the
Commission's Part 15 rules "should be modified so as to prevent
interference to users of the HF and low VHF spectrum" from the outset.

Abernathy's speech, "Reaching Broadband Nirvana," never broached the topic
of BPL's potential to interfere with other radio services. Recently, the
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)
<http://www.ntia.doc.gov>--which regulates spectrum allocated to federal
government users--expressed "broad concerns" about interference to
government users and launched an extensive modeling, analysis and
measurement program for BPL. In his letter, Sumner reminded Abernathy that
the radio spectrum is a precious natural resource.

"To squander that resource simply to add a redundant, unnecessary, and
relatively poorly performing 'last mile' connection for consumers, is
unconscionable," he said. Sumner expressed the hope that Abernathy will
give the League an early opportunity to explain its BPL concerns to her in
person.

In her remarks to the UPLC gathering, Abernathy contended that it's been
regulatory restraint rather than heavy-handed regulation that has allowed
nascent platforms such as direct broadcast satellite (DBS) to become
competitively viable. "When the Commission completes this rulemaking," she
said, "I expect that we will eliminate many existing rules and
substantially modify others; the central question is the degree of
regulation that will remain during the transition to a more robustly
competitive market."

Individuals may e-mail Abernathy via her FCC Web site
<http://www.fcc.gov/commissioners/abernathy/mail.html> or directly
<kabernat@fcc.gov>. The text of her prepared remarks also is available on
the FCC Web site
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-239079A1.doc>.

The League's initial 120-page package of comments and technical exhibits
<http://www.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/et03-104/> and its reply comments
<http://www.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/et03-104/reply-comments-index.htm
l> are available on the ARRL Web site. Additional information and BPL
video clips are on the ARRL "Power Line Communications (PLC) and Amateur
Radio" page <http://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/>.

To date, more than 4600 comments--many from the Amateur Radio
community--have been filed in response to the FCC's BPL NOI. They are
available for viewing via the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System
(ECFS) <http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/>.