| Austrian FCC shuts down a BPL system Red Cross report that emergency services radio traffic during a disaster response drill last May was the victim of massive BPL interference.
»www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/01/08/2/?nc=1
Austrian Authorities Pull Plug on BPL Pilot Project
NEWINGTON, CT, Jan 8, 2004--The Austrian Amateur Transmitter Federation (ÖVSV--Öesterreichische Versuchsenderverband) reports that a Broadband over Power Line (BPL) field test in the city of Linz has been cut short as a result of excessive radio interference. ÖVSV, Austria's International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) member-society, said in December that the Government Ministry for Commerce, Innovation and Technology closed down Linz Power Company's BPL pilot project because it was generating interference on the HF bands. Shortwave broadcaster Radio Austria's futureZone service says the case that brought the issue to a head was a Red Cross report that emergency services radio traffic during a disaster response drill last May was the victim of massive BPL interference.
"The Commerce Ministry Order not only means the end of the Linz BPL pilot project," the Radio Austria report said, "but the end of the deployment of this technology in Austria, especially given the interference to radio communication in places of business." According to the broadcaster, measurements were said to have indicated that radiation from the BPL system exceeded permissible field strength levels by a factor of 10,000.
ÖVSV says radio amateurs in Austria have opposed deployment of all BPL experiments on the basis of Austrian communication law as well as International Telecommunication Union international regulations due to the "massive interference to international communication on the important shortwave bands." The Federation maintains that in its current form BPL--also known in Austria as "Internet from the Electrical Outlet"--is neither legal nor compatible with "vital, worldwide shortwave radiocommunication."
Among other problems with BPL, ÖVSV has cited its potential to disrupt emergency communications and safety-of-life services as well as military operations on HF and navigation and aeronautical communication.
Last fall, ÖVSV representatives and Linz amateurs got together with power company representatives in an effort to resolve BPL's incompatibility with HF radio operation. The meetings followed news reports of interference to emergency service communications and QRM complaints from several area hams. "Because of the racket, expensive installations, such as a 20-meter monobander on a high-rise building, become totally worthless," ÖVSV said.
The utility agreed to look into the possibility of a 100-meter protective zone around each amateur's location, notch filters for amateur frequencies, network system filters and the use of 5 GHz wireless local area networks. |
