[South Florida DX Association] ARLB030 FCC Adopts New BPL Rules

[Bill Marx]

 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