[South Florida DX Association] ARLB032 FCC BPL Report And Order stresses interference avoidance, resolution

[Bill Marx]

> ZCZC AG32
> QST de W1AW  
> ARRL Bulletin 32  ARLB032
> From ARRL Headquarters  
> Newington CT  October 29, 2004
> To all radio amateurs 
> 
> SB QST ARL ARLB032
> ARLB032 FCC BPL Report And Order stresses interference avoidance,
> resolution
> 
> The FCC has released the full BPL Report and Order (R&O) in ET
> Docket 04-37 that it adopted just two weeks ago. While extolling the
> purported benefits of broadband over power line technology, the
> 81-page document also declares the FCC's intention to "protect
> licensed services from harmful interference."
> 
> "We recognize that some radio operations in the bands being used for
> Access BPL, such as those of Amateur Radio licensees, may occur at
> distances sufficiently close to power lines as to make harmful
> interference a possibility," the FCC conceded. "We believe that
> those situations can be addressed through interference avoidance
> techniques by the Access BPL provider such as frequency band
> selection, notching, or judicious device placement."
> 
> Notches would have to be at least 20 dB below applicable Part 15
> limits on HF and at least 10 dB below on VHF. The FCC called the
> ability to alter a system's operation to notch out transmissions on
> specific frequencies where interference is occurring "a necessary
> feature for resolving interference without disrupting service to BPL
> subscribers."
> 
> The FCC declined to reduce the Part 15 radiated emission limit for
> BPL systems. It maintained that emissions from BPL systems are very
> localized and at low enough levels to generally preclude harmful
> interference.
> 
> The FCC said while it had no evidence before it that BPL operation
> would significantly contribute to background noise levels, it seemed
> to put some of the onus on Amateur Radio licensees to take steps to
> avoid power-line interference--and, by inference, BPL
> interference--in advance.
> 
> "In addition, because power lines inherently can radiate significant
> noise emissions as noted by NTIA and ARRL, good engineering practice
> is to locate sensitive receiver antennas as far as practicable from
> power lines," the FCC said.
> 
> In a footnote, the FCC admonished ARRL that in cases where its
> members experience RF noise, "such noise can often be avoided by
> carefully locating their antennas; in many instances an antenna
> relocation of only a relatively short distance can resolve noise
> interference."
> 
> BPL operators would be required to avoid certain bands, such as
> those used for life and safety communications by aeronautical mobile
> or US Coast Guard stations. The FCC R&O makes clear, however, that
> similar rules will not apply to the Amateur Service.
> 
> "We similarly do not find that Amateur Radio frequencies warrant the
> special protection afforded frequencies reserved for international
> aeronautical and maritime safety operations," the Commission said.
> "While we recognize that amateurs may on occasion assist in
> providing emergency communications," the FCC added. It described
> typical amateur operations as "routine communications and hobby
> activities."
> 
> The Commission reiterated its belief that BPL's public benefits "are
> sufficiently important and significant so as to outweigh the limited
> potential for increased harmful interference that may arise."
> 
> Among other specific provisions, the FCC's new rules mandate
> certification of BPL equipment instead of the less-stringent
> verification, a public BPL database--something the BPL industry did
> not want--and mechanisms to deal swiftly with interference
> complaints. BPL systems will have to incorporate the ability to
> modify operation and performance "to mitigate or avoid potential
> harmful interference" and to deactivate problematic units, the R&O
> says.
> 
> Further, the new rules spell out the locations of "small geographic
> exclusion zones" as well as excluded bands or
> frequencies--concessions made primarily at the insistence of the
> NTIA, which administers radio spectrum for federal government
> users--and "coordination areas" where BPL deployments at any
> frequency must be "precoordinated by BPL operators." They also
> detail techniques to measure BPL emissions from system equipment and
> power lines.
> 
> The FCC said it expects "good faith" on both sides in the event of
> interference complaints. Shutting down a BPL system in response to a
> valid interference complaint "would be a last resort when all other
> efforts to satisfactorily reduce interference have failed," the FCC
> said.
> 
> ARRL officials are studying the R&O and considering possible
> responses. The ARRL Executive Committee (EC) already has authorized
> filing a Petition for Reconsideration. The EC also authorized ARRL
> General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, to "prepare to pursue other
> available remedies as to procedural and substantive defects" in the
> BPL proceeding.
> 
> For more information on BPL, visit the "Broadband Over Power Line
> (BPL) and Amateur Radio" page at,
> http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/.
> NNNN
> /EX
> 
>