[Premium-Rx] Broadband Over Power Lines

[Martin Colby]

Hi all:

Wanted to share the following recent article from InfoWorld (an IT/computer 
industry trade magazine) on the data transmission over power lines issue 
[original article at:
http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/01/07/HNbroadbanddog_1.html ]

 From this, I would say that there is hope yet....

Martin


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Interference questions dog broadband over power lines
Groups claim emerging technology disrupts radio signals



By Grant Gross, IDG News Service January 07, 2004

Ham radio operators and at least one U.S. federal agency contend that 
broadband over power lines interferes with their radio signals, and if the 
radio operators have their way, the emerging technology that could offer 
Internet users another broadband service choice might not get off the 
ground in the U.S.

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL), a national ham radio association, 
and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are among the organizations 
that have raised concerns with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission 
(FCC) over possible short-wave radio interference caused by broadband over 
power lines, often called BPL.

Companies experimenting with BPL, which uses traditional power lines to 
transmit data over the Internet, have promoted it as an 
inexpensive-to-deploy alternative to cable-modem or DSL (Digital Subscriber 
Line) services.

Some BPL supporters champion it as a way for broadband to reach rural and 
other areas with limited broadband service because of the near ubiquity of 
power lines.

The two sides are miles apart on the interference issue, which the FCC is 
examining in a request for public comments that has been ongoing since last 
April. The ham radio association says it has found radio interference in 
every place it has tested short-wave BPL systems, while representatives of 
the BPL industry say they can't find interference caused by their systems.

The FCC's rules already prohibit unlicensed electronic devices, including 
BPL transmitters, from interfering with licensed devices, such as ham 
radios. If the FCC were to find interference and enforce its existing 
rules, most of the BPL industry could be shut down. "If the commission were 
to follow its rules, that would be the practical effect," said Dave Sumner, 
chief executive officer of ARRL "If the commission decides that BPL cannot 
operate in this country, that'd be fine with us."

Most BPL vendors use devices called repeaters to amplify and clean up the 
data signal carried on power lines, and those devices, as well as BPL 
modems, emit frequencies in the same range as radios used by ham radio 
operators and some emergency responders, according to the ARRL. Some BPL 
vendors are experimenting with devices that use microwave signals, and the 
ARRL says those devices would not interfere with ham radios.

But Current Technologies LLC, which offers BPL service in the Cincinnati 
and Rockville, Maryland, areas, can't find interference caused by its 
system, said Jay Birnbaum, the company's vice president and general 
counsel. Current Technologies uses a technology standard called HomePlug, 
designed to not interfere with other radio signals.

"(Interference) just doesn't exist," Birnbaum said. "They based a lot of 
their assumptions on outdated noise flow analysis."

Birnbaum accused the ARRL of being overprotective of its turf. "The 
decision-maker here is not the ham radio community -- the decision-maker is 
the FCC," he said. "It's been (ARRL's) policy to oppose any new technology 
that causes emissions, whether they be harmful or not." ARRL does maintain 
a Web page, at http://www.arrl.org/news/bandthreat/, listing nine 
technologies it calls "threats to our amateur bands."

It doesn't make sense for BPL companies like Current Technologies to move 
forward with their business plans and financing if they're causing 
interference, because the FCC could immediately shut them down if they did, 
Birnbaum added. Any interference the ARRL is measuring might be coming from 
other licensed radio devices, he said.

"If it turns out I'm trying to make a device or sell a device that would 
cause interference anytime it's used, it kind of belies logic that I could 
raise money to do that," Birnbaum said.

The ARRL has posted a video on its Web site at 
http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc#video showing interference in four 
BPL test areas, including Current Technologies' Maryland location. "For 
them to say that (they don't cause interference) shows they don't know what 
they're talking about," Sumner said of Current's position. "It's a classic 
case of denial. We'd be glad to go down and show them the interference 
we've observed on their system."

If the FCC were to enforce its existing rules against interference, ARRL 
would be happy, Sumner said. ARRL became concerned that the FCC would relax 
its interference rules when commissioners praised BPL during a commission 
meeting in April, he said. FCC Chairman Michael Powell called BPL a 
"monumental breakthrough in technology."

"The benefits don't outweigh the negative consequences," Sumner said. 
"You're taking a part of the radio spectrum that's unique -- it's the only 
part of the radio spectrum that supports communications long distance 
without infrastructure."

The FCC has received about 5,000 comments on BPL, and a possible next step 
would be to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking later this year, if the 
commission determines new rules are needed for BPL, an FCC spokesman said. 
In December, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) filed comments 
saying BPL could "severely impair FEMA's mission-essential HF (high 
frequency) radio operations."

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration at the U.S. 
Department of Commerce is conducting its own study, and phase one is due 
out in the first half of 2004. The agency is attempting to address the 
balance between accommodation of BPL and protection of vital federal and 
private services, according to an agency spokesman.

The FEMA objections simply repeat the concerns of the ARRL, said Brett 
Kilbourne, director of regulatory services and associate counsel at the 
United PowerLine Council. The FCC should allow BPL to continue operating 
after it's finished researching the issue, he said.

"Our experience in the field contradicts what (the ARRL is) alleging," 
Kilbourne said. "We're entirely satisfied that there won't be any 
interference."