[TWIAR] FCC Endorses Broadband Over Powerline

[Greg Williams]

FCC Endorses Broadband Over Powerline

http://www.informationweek.com/management/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=193501750

The Federal Communications Commission eased the way to rapid 
broadband-over-powerline development by classifying BPL as an 
"information service," placing it on equal regulatory footing with cable 
modems and DSL.

By W. David Gardner
TechWeb News

Nov 3, 2006 02:11 PM

The Federal Communications Commission on Friday gave a big boost to 
Broadband over Powerline (BPL), classifying the technology as an 
"information service."

The declaration places BPL-enabled access services on equal footing with 
cable modem and DSL Internet access services. The FCC has campaigned for 
BPL approval for years, although ham radio operators have long 
complained that BPL would interfere with its service.

By ruling BPL service's transmission component is "telecommunications," 
and an "information service," BPL will find it easier to deploy beyond 
the handful of networks that are currently scattered around the country, 
mostly in the Northeast.

"The Commission's broadband statistics show that subscribers to BPL 
Internet access services, although few in number overall, increased by 
nearly 200 percent in 2005," said FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, who has 
been a supporter of the technology. "By finding that BPL Internet access 
services are information services, the Commission provides the 
regulatory certainty necessary to foster competition between different 
broadband platform providers."

-- 
Greg Williams
K4HSM
k4hsm at knology.net

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