[South Florida DX Association] Fw: ARLB007 House Committee Okays Telecoms Bill with BPL-Interference Study Amendment

Bill Marx bmarx at bellsouth.net
Sun Apr 30 18:23:34 EDT 2006


SB QST @ ARL $ARLB007
> ARLB007 House Committee Okays Telecoms Bill with BPL-Interference
> Study Amendment
> 
> ZCZC AG07
> QST de W1AW  
> ARRL Bulletin 7  ARLB007
> From ARRL Headquarters  
> Newington CT  April 28, 2006
> To all radio amateurs 
> 
> SB QST ARL ARLB007
> ARLB007 House Committee Okays Telecoms Bill with BPL-Interference
> Study Amendment
> 
> The US House Energy and Commerce Committee's version of the
> Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement (COPE) Act of
> 2006 includes an amendment requiring the FCC to study the
> interference potential of BPL systems. The panel voted April 26 to
> send the much-talked-about "telecoms rewrite" bill to the full House
> for its consideration. "Outstanding news!" was the reaction of ARRL
> CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ.
> 
> "This is a major victory for the ARRL," he exulted, noting that the
> amendment "received significant opposition" from utility companies.
> Rep Mike Ross, WD5DVR (D-AR), proposed the amendment, and, with the
> support of Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX), the committee
> agreed by voice vote to include it in the bill. "This puts the House
> Energy and Commerce Committee on record as having concerns about BPL
> interference," Sumner said.
> 
> A year ago, Ross sponsored House Resolution 230 (H Res 230), which
> calls on the FCC to "reconsider and revise rules governing broadband
> over power line systems" based on a comprehensive evaluation of
> their interference potential to public safety and other licensed
> radio services.
> 
> "Hundreds of ARRL members who wrote their congressional
> representatives in support of Rep Ross's H Res 230 helped to achieve
> this week's success with the COPE Act amendment," Sumner observed.
> 
> A statement released by Ross's office notes that his amendment,
> which received unanimous committee support, "would guarantee that
> valuable public safety communications and Amateur Radio operators
> are not subject to interference." One of two radio amateurs in the
> US House, Ross said infrastructure-free Amateur Radio, "often
> overlooked in favor of flashier means of communication," can
> maintain communication in disasters that bring more vulnerable
> technology to its knees. Ham radio operators "are often the only
> means of communication attainable in a devastated area," Ross said.
> 
> "I believe it is imperative that the interference potential of BPL
> is thoroughly examined and comprehensively evaluated to ensure that
> deployment of BPL, which I do support, does not cause radio
> interference for Amateur Radio operators and first responders who
> serve our communities," Ross added.
> NNNN
> /EX
> 
> 
>



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