[South Florida DX Association] US House Resolution Calls on FCC to Evaluate BPL Interference, Review Rules

[wa4aw at juno.com]

Fellow Hams,


Here's your chance to keep up the pressure on the FCC to fairly evaluate 
BPL. Please read this article about House Resolution 230 and send an 
email to your state representative asking him/her for co-sponsorship 
support. The full text below can be found at 
:http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/04/28/3/?nc=1


Please take the time to write your Representative and let him/her know 
how you feel about this. Don't know who your Representative is? Check 
out http://www.house.gov/ I have included the text below which I used in 
my letter to my Representative.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT refer to this resolution as HR 230. It is >> H Res 230 
<<. They are two separate issues and should not be confused! After all, 
if you're taking the time to write the letter, don't you want to sound 
like you're informed to your Representative? As Ed McMahon said, "Go on, 
send it in"...

Back to Net,
73,
Fred, K9VV

=========================


      US House Resolution Calls on FCC to Evaluate BPL Interference,
      Review Rules

NEWINGTON, CT, Apr 28, 2005--Rep Michael Ross, WD5DVR, of Arkansas, has 
introduced a resolution in the US House of Representatives calling on 
the FCC to "conduct a full and complete analysis" of radio interference 
from broadband over power line (BPL). The resolution, H. Res 230 
<http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/filings/hres230/HRes230.pdf>, 
(full text at 
http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/filings/hres230/HRes230.pdf) says 
the Commission should comprehensively evaluate BPL's interference 
potential incorporating "extensive public review and comment," and--in 
light of that analysis--to "reconsider and review" its new BPL rules 
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-245A1.doc>. If 
approved by the full House, the non-binding resolution, introduced April 
21, would express the requests as "the sense of the House of 
Representatives." The FCC adopted rules to govern so-called Access BPL 
last October 14 in ET Docket 04-37.

"We are grateful to Congressman Ross and his staff for taking a 
leadership position in recognizing that the BPL interference issue 
deserves more careful consideration than the FCC was willing to give it 
under former Chairman Powell," said ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ. The 
resolution has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and 
Commerce, on which Ross serves.

The resolution's prime focus is on BPL's potential to disrupt critical 
public safety radiocommunication. It cites National Telecommunications 
and Information Administration (NTIA <http://www.ntia.doc.gov/>) studies 
that "have determined that broadband over power line creates a ‘high 
risk' of radio wave interference, and that harmful interference to 
public safety mobile radio receivers can be expected at distances of 75 
meters from the power line where broadband over power line is in 
operation, and at distances of up to 460 meters from fixed stations, 
such as VHF police or fire dispatch communications facilities."

The resolution notes that the same NTIA study determined that BPL 
interference to aeronautical and airline travel communications "could be 
expected at distances up to 40 kilometers from the center of the 
broadband over power line system, and that interference to outer marker 
beacons for airline instrument landing systems could be expected at 
great distances as well."

Many public safety agencies and support services, including emergency 
medical services, fire, and law enforcement, utilize Low-Band VHF (30-50 
MHz), the resolution points out. Thirteen states--California, 
Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, 
Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and 
Wyoming--use the band for state police operations, while it's the 
primary public safety radio band in nine states.

The resolution further notes that the Association of Public Safety 
Communications Officials Inc (APCO <http://www.apcointl.org/>), and the 
National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC 
<http://www.npstc.org/>), urged the FCC to withhold final action in the 
BPL proceeding for at least a year, pending a "conclusive determination" 
of BPL's potential to interfere with public safety and other licensed 
radio systems operating below 80 MHz. APCO and NPSTC jointly filed 
comments 
<http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_doc
ument=6516182864> 
in the BPL proceeding, and the APCO Region 21 Frequency Advisory 
Committee filed separate comments 
<http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_doc
ument=6516089417>. 


The resolution also sites comments that the FCC has struggled for years 
to resolve widespread harmful interference to the radiocommunications of 
first responders on 800 MHz and "should not have proceeded with 
introduction of a technology which appears to have substantial potential 
to cause destructive interference to police, fire, emergency medical 
services, and other public safety radio systems" without first 
conducting a comprehensive evaluation.

ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, has urged ARRL members to contact 
their US representatives to support the resolution when it reaches the 
floor of the House. A sample letter 
<http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/filings/hres230/HRes230-SampleLtr.
doc> 
is available on the ARRL Web site, although members are encouraged to 
express their support in their own words. If you're not sure who 
represents your congressional district, visit the United States House of 
Representatives <http://www.house.gov/> Web site.

To expedite delivery, send all correspondence bound for Members of 
Congress--preferably as an attachment--to hres230 at arrl.org 
<mailto:hres230 at arrl.org> or fax it to 703-684-7594. The ARRL will 
bundle correspondence addressed to each Member of Congress for hand 
delivery.

===================================================

Here is the letter that I mailed to my representative.

Rep. __________

U.S. House of Representatives

Washington, DC 20515

Dear Rep. _______

As a federally licensed Amateur Radio operator in your district, a Life 
Member of the national association for Amateur Radio, and an Amateur 
Radio operator at the National Hurricane Center, I ask you to *support 
House Resolution 230*. This resolution urges the Federal Communications 
Commission (FCC) to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the potential 
of “broadband over power line” (BPL) systems to interfere with public 
safety and other licensed radio services.

BPL utilizes electric power lines to serve as the conductors of the 
broadband signals. Unfortunately, because the power lines are not 
shielded, they also act as antennas and radiate the signals into the 
air. These radiated signals have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt 
to interfere with radio receivers tuned to the same frequency range. BPL 
has only been deployed to a very limited extent, but Amateur Radio 
already is experiencing severe BPL interference that the FCC has been 
unable or unwilling to correct. Unlike BPL, other methods of providing 
broadband Internet services to consumers, such as cable, DSL, wireless 
and Fiber to the Home, do not pollute the radio spectrum.

Last October 14, the FCC ignored the evidence that BPL systems will 
cause widespread interference and adopted rules for BPL deployment that 
provide inadequate protection to radio communication by First Responders 
and others who need reliable radio communication to ensure our security. 
The FCC needs to do what it should have done in the first place: fairly 
and carefully review this evidence and adopt rules that will keep 
interference from BPL within reasonable bounds.

In our hurricane prone State of Florida, this issue is especially 
important because our First Responders – police, fire, and EMT services 
– use low-band VHF (30 to 50 MHz) radios. I am also a member of 
Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). We interact extensively with 
law enforcement and emergency relief personnel during disasters, 
especially hurricanes. BPL deployment could prevent these services from 
communicating and could force them to spend millions of dollars on new 
radios.

Because Amateur Radio needs no infrastructure in order to communicate, 
the Amateur Radio Service is the only 100-percent fail-safe emergency 
communication capability in the world. Interference from BPL emissions 
will significantly disrupt this capability. *Please **cosponsor H. Res. 
230 as soon as possible *to express your concern over the interference 
potential of BPL to Amateur Radio operators and to public safety
licensees.

Sincerely,