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 Previous: OSCAR Echo to Launch in March |  Next: Hamvention Signs Contract for 2004 Show at Hara Arena |
NEWINGTON, CT, Oct 23, 2003--The ARRL this week put officials in Manassas, Virginia, on notice that the League will act on behalf of its members to ensure full compliance with FCC regulations when the city's Broadband over Power Line (BPL) system starts up in a few months. The League was responding to media reports that Manassas--a Washington, DC, suburb--has approved plans for a citywide BPL rollout. Manassas City Council reportedly voted unanimously October 16 to grant a 10-year franchise to Prospect Street Broadband to expand a BPL field trial and offer high-speed Internet service to the entire community over municipal power lines. ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, on October 22 faxed Manassas Mayor Marvin L. Gillum to point out BPL's dark side--the potential for RF interference from and to any BPL system.
 BPL would use low and medium-voltage lines like these to distribute broadband services. |
"Your advisors no doubt have made the Council fully aware of the great potential for radio interference from such a system," Sumner said. "In particular, you are no doubt well aware that Title 47 CFR §15.5 requires that no harmful interference is caused to any radiocommunication service, and that the operator shall be required to cease operation upon notification by a Federal Communications Commission representative that the device is causing harmful interference." Sumner also pointed out that the same FCC Part 15 rule also provides no protection against interference from the operation of an authorized radio station.
"Tests conducted by ARRL technical personnel have shown that the system planned to be deployed in Manassas causes harmful interference to the Amateur Radio service," Sumner said. "We also have reason to believe that the system will be susceptible to interference from normal amateur station operations."
An article in Potomac News.com touted the impending Manassas BPL rollout as the first of its type in the US.
Sumner said he was writing to alert the City of Manassas "on behalf of its members who live in and use the public thoroughfares of Manassas" that the ARRL "will ensure that there is full compliance with the FCC regulations" once the city's BPL system is in operation. Copies of the Sumner's fax went to Manassas City Manager Lawrence D. Hughes, and Prospect Street Broadband Chairman and CEO John F. Berry. Associated with Prospect Street Ventures--a venture capital firm--Prospect Street Broadband is apparently so new that its Web site remains under development.
Under the contract, Prospect Street Broadband reportedly will be responsible for handling equipment, connections, billing and marketing, and customer support. Manassas, which operates its own electric utility, will expand its current optical fiber network and update optical electronics. The city also will install and maintain external equipment needed for the service, which could be available within a few months. The BPL service initially will be offered for $29.95 a month. One estimate predicts the city could stand to gain up to $4.5 million over the life of the 10-year contract, which was to be signed this week.
The Manassas BPL field trial is one of the smallest now under way and involves fewer than a dozen homes and businesses. It was installed in an area that has underground utility wiring and no Amateur Radio licensees nearby. The Manassas BPL field trial equipment is manufactured by main.net. A similar system is being tested in Emmaus, Pennsylvania.
BPL articles in major media have proliferated in recent weeks, many of them painting the service in rosy hues and neglecting to point out the potential for radio interference to and from BPL by other HF spectrum occupants. An October 13 article in The Wall Street Journal, "A New Outlet," by Walin Wong, quotes one trial user who calls the service "fantastic." But Wong also notes that one "Achilles' heel" of BPL is that serving rural areas would require installing costly repeaters every mile or so along the power line. The article also deals with the reluctance on the part of some electric utilities to embrace the technology.
Sumner also reacted to the WSJ article. In a letter to the editor not yet published, he pointed out that BPL "amounts to sending a wideband radio signal over unshielded wires that were not designed for the purpose" and that do not work well for the 2 to 80 MHz signals common in BPL systems. Instead, "they function as antennas," he said, and that can lead to radio interference to public safety agencies, the military, aeronautical and maritime services, broadcasters, radio astronomers, radio amateurs and others.
"Potential investors in broadband delivery alternatives to DSL and cable would be far better off considering the various methods of delivering fiber-to-the-home in densely populated areas," Sumner wrote. "In rural areas, adaptations of wireless LAN technology are far more promising than BPL."
Additional information on BPL and video clips from field trial sites are on the ARRL "Power Line Communications (PLC) and Amateur Radio" page.
To support the League's efforts in the BPL
fight, visit the ARRL's secure BPL Web site.
| Previous: OSCAR Echo to Launch in March | Next: Hamvention Signs Contract for 2004 Show at Hara Arena |
