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 Previous: Towerless Honor Roll (and how to do it) | ![Next (later) Story](/images/sty-up.gif "Amateur Radio Enforcement "The Riley Way" Marks Five Years"){kind=small} Next: Amateur Radio Enforcement "The Riley Way" Marks Five Years |
FCC Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy. |
NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 25, 2003--The ARRL has strongly objected to FCC Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy's suggestion that Broadband over Power Line (BPL) technology will contribute to what she described as "broadband Nirvana." Addressing the United Powerline Council's annual conference September 22 in Arlington, Virginia, Abernathy expressed unabashed enthusiasm for BPL and recommended a combination of regulatory restraint and the elimination or substantial modification of existing rules as steps along the "path to Enlightenment." In a terse response faxed today on behalf of the League's 155,000 members, ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, asserted that Abernathy overlooked some significant issues in her Nirvana analogy.
"Nightmare is more like it," Sumner declared. "The technical showings submitted by the ARRL and others in response to the Commission's Notice of Inquiry in ET Docket No. 03-104 clearly establish that BPL is a significant source of radio spectrum pollution. It cannot be implemented without causing harmful interference to over-the-air radio services."
Sumner told Abernathy that while BPL industry groups, such as the one she addressed this week, prefer to deny the evidence, the FCC is obliged to work to a higher standard.
In its remarks, the League characterized BPL as "a Pandora's Box of unprecedented proportions" and said the Commission's Part 15 rules "should be modified so as to prevent interference to users of the HF and low VHF spectrum" from the outset and "to prevent consumers' reliance on BPL as an interference-free broadband delivery system."
Abernathy's speech, "Reaching Broadband Nirvana," never broached the topic of BPL's potential to interfere with other radio services. Recently, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)--which regulates spectrum allocated to federal government users--expressed "broad concerns" about interference to government users and launched an extensive modeling, analysis and measurement program for BPL. In his letter, Sumner reminded Abernathy that the radio spectrum is a precious natural resource.
"To squander that resource, simply to add a redundant, unnecessary,
and relatively poorly performing 'last mile' connection for consumers, is
unconscionable," He said. Sumner expressed the hope that Abernathy
will give the League an early opportunity to explain its BPL concerns to
her in person.
BPL would use low and medium-voltage power lines like these to distribute broadband services to homes and businesses. BPL would use frequencies between 2 and 80 MHz. |
In her remarks to the UPLC gathering, Abernathy contended that it's been regulatory restraint rather than heavy-handed regulation that has allowed nascent platforms such as direct broadcast satellite (DBS) to become competitively viable. "When the Commission completes this rulemaking," she said, "I expect that we will eliminate many existing rules and substantially modify others; the central question is the degree of regulation that will remain during the transition to a more robustly competitive market."
Abernathy said many of the FCC's "old rules" not only become unnecessary as markets evolve but "they can be fatal to new services that need room to breathe."
The FCC provides two routes for individuals to e-mail Abernathy: Via her FCC Web site or directly. The text of her prepared remarks also is available on the FCC Web site.
The League's initial 120-page package of comments and technical exhibits is available on the ARRL Web site. There's additional information and additional video clips on the ARRL "Power Line Communications (PLC) and Amateur Radio" page.
To support the League's efforts in this area, visit the ARRL's secure BPL Web site. To date, more than 4600 comments--many from the Amateur Radio community--have been filed in response to the FCC's BPL NOI and are available for viewing via the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS).
September 24, 2003
Kathleen Q. Abernathy, Commissioner
Dear Commissioner Abernathy: On behalf of the 155,000 members of the ARRL I must express strong objection to your characterization, in your September 22 speech to the United PowerLine Council Annual Conference, of broadband-over-powerline technology as contributing to "broadband Nirvana." Nightmare is more like it. The technical showings submitted by the ARRL and others in response to the Commission's Notice of Inquiry in ET Docket No. 03-104 clearly establish that BPL is a significant source of radio spectrum pollution. It cannot be implemented without causing harmful interference to over-the-air radio services. The BPL industry prefers to deny the evidence. The FCC is required to work to a higher standard. The radio spectrum is a precious natural resource. The properties of the ionosphere permit intercontinental communication. To squander that resource, simply to add a redundant, unnecessary, and relatively poorly performing "last mile" connection for consumers, is unconscionable. I hope you will afford the ARRL an opportunity to explain our concerns to you in person at an early date. Sincerely,
David Sumner
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