The ARRL Letter, Vol 23, No 08
February 21, 2004

FCC Chairman Michael Powell has assured US Representative Greg Walden, WB7OCE, that the Commission will give "thorough consideration" to all Broadband over Power Line (BPL) studies before it takes final action on BPL. Powell responded February 3 to Walden's January 15 letter requesting that the FCC defer any further action in its BPL proceeding until the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) releases the results of its BPL study and the public has had a chance to comment. On February 12 the FCC took the proceeding to the next level, unanimously approving the issuance of a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM). Among other provisions, the NPRM would require BPL providers to employ "adaptive interference-mitigation techniques."

"Please be assured that we have already begun coordination of this action with NTIA," Powell told Walden, "and that the Commission will give all studies, including the forthcoming NTIA study, thorough consideration prior to any final action or rules on the subject." The FCC has not yet released the BPL NPRM nor invited public comments. An Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) briefing at the FCC's February 12 open meeting indicated that the Commission would make no changes in Part 15 rules governing emissions from unlicensed devices. To date, the FCC has released only a public notice on its BPL proposals.

Walden, a member of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, had told the FCC chairman that, in view of the importance of avoiding interference to federal government HF communications, the FCC should give the pending NTIA study a thorough airing before proposing any rules to govern BPL systems. The Oregon Republican is one of two Amateur Radio licensees in the US House.

Commenting on last April's FCC BPL Notice of Inquiry in ET Docket 03-104, the NTIA had expressed "broad concern" about the technology's potential to cause interference to federal government users. The NTIA said the Commission "must ensure that other communications services, especially government operations, are adequately protected from unacceptable interference."

An arm of the US Department of Commerce, the NTIA subsequently undertook evaluations of BPL field test sites, in part to gauge the technology's interference potential. The NTIA was supposed to conclude its field work last month, and release its observations and conclusions during the first quarter of this year. The ARRL's own BPL study, which is assessing the potential of interference both from and to BPL systems, also is set to wrap up early this year.

Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce Michael Gallagher and NTIA head Michael Gallagher told a December meeting of BPL proponent the Power Line Communications Association that the NTIA was "studying interference risks and potential means for making risks more tolerable." He indicated that the first phase of NTIA's pending BPL study would recommend radiated emission limits, compliance measurement procedures and other conditions in its report to the FCC.

At the FCC's February 12 open meeting, Powell pledged that the FCC would continue to be vigilant in the area of BPL's interference potential. Anh Wride of the OET staff, who provided the broad strokes of the pending NPRM, said the FCC recognizes the concerns of licensed radio service users regarding BPL's interference potential. Wride said "licensed operations must be protected," but added that the OET staff believes that "these interference concerns can be adequately addressed."

Story @ EHAM.net