[WIARC] BPL NPRM Released today

[Arlyce and Mike Nowack]

ALERT!

To all members and friends of the WIARC:

Today the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making to define
the rules under which Broadband over Power Lines will be allowed 
to operate.  If this weren't enough to get our attention, 
included in the NPRM is the possibility of changes to the  
Part 15 RF levels BPL and other services will be allowed to
radiate at.  This is an additional issue that needs to be 
countered along with the BPL deployment.

This is THE most important challenge to Amateur Radio in many, many
years... if improperly or inadequately controlled, BPL deployment
could make HF communications a thing of the past for Amateur Radio.
It could even affect VHF and UHF weak signal communications.  

This is important enough that each of us should, without fail,
file comments opposing the establishment of BPL without further 
detailed engineering studies and real world evaluations.  The
mind set at FCC seems to be full bore ahead.  As one commissioner 
put it '...we cannot let unsupported claims stand in the way of
such an innovation as BPL systems'.

Also, please consider a donation to the ARRL Spectrum Defense 
Special Campaign fund.  This is a time when we all must come 
together under the ARRL banner to protect our Amateur Radio
frequencies.  Right now the issue is interference from part
15 services such as BPL.  Tomorrow it could be re-allocation
of our frequencies to other services.

The comment period is just 45 days long, so start early, craft
your comments carefully, argue for lower Part 15 limits, not higher,
ask for a delay in BPL deployment until further testing results 
can verify the levels of interference in a real world setting.  
Approval for deployment shouldn't be granted on the power 
companies and their allies saying they 'don't believe that
interference will be an issue'.  Let's insist that tests
confirm potential interference levels BEFORE deployment starts.

Highlight other delivery modes for wideband such as satellite, 
cable and wireless.  All these technologies exist and are 
already being deployed without the risks associated with BPL.

This is the time to get fired up and act.  I will be appointing
a committee of the WIARC to craft a club response.  However,
individual filings are even more important as the strength
is always in the individual filings.

73, Mike, NA9Q
President, WIARC