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 Previous: Volunteer Examiner Coordinators Discuss Question Pools, Restructuring |  Next: Foundation for Amateur Radio Announces Scholarship Winners |
 A BPL extractor in Penn Yan, New York. |
NEWINGTON, CT, Aug 2, 2004--The broadband provider that's been testing BPL in the Village of Penn Yan, New York, reportedly plans to "move away" from that technology. The Western New York community of some 5000 residents has been considering various proposals with Data Ventures (DVI) to offer broadband service, with the village reportedly getting 10 percent of any generated revenue. A BPL trial has been underway in Penn Yan for several months. According to an article in the July 28 edition of the Finger Lakes Times Online, DVI now is proposing to employ wireless mesh "WiFi" technology instead of BPL. ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, congratulated Penn Yan Mayor Douglas G. Marchionda Jr and DVI for going with wireless broadband instead of BPL.
"Not only will your citizens receive better service, but a serious radio spectrum pollution problem has been averted as well," Sumner said in a fax to Marchionda and to DVI CEO Marc Burling. "We hope that other communities will be able to profit from your experience." Sumner raised the issue of interference complaints from the Penn Yan BPL trial with Marchionda last April.
The Finger Lakes Times report quotes Burling as saying that his company didn't feel BPL was "commercially deployable." He also cited issues with the BPL trial including security concerns and interference--which will not be an issue with the wireless system.
Burling told ARRL that the Penn Yan BPL system remains on line but would be shut down once DVI starts deploying its wireless system. As for BPL, "We are going to sit back and wait for an official ruling from the FCC and go from there," he added.
Penn Yan already has rejected two DVI proposals to bring high-speed Internet service to the community, the newspaper said. Village officials reportedly met again with DVI representatives this week. DVI is partnering with Nortel to offer the wireless service.
The Finger Lakes Times article quotes Marchionda as saying that the village didn't want to be involved with handling complaints or operating the broadband system. It just wants to rent space on village-owned utility poles and benefit from any revenue the system generates.
Penn Yan and DVI had been looking at a 10-year agreement, but the latest proposal calls for a two-year contract with provisions for an automatic two-year renewal.
In a March 23 article "In This Power Play, High-Wire Act Riles Ham-Radio Fans," Wall Street Journal reporter Ken Brown described a "firestorm" of protest from amateurs when Penn Yan approved the BPL test plan.
ARRL also has learned that Energy East--a cooperative of New York State Electric & Gas and Rochester Gas & Electric--decided against deploying BPL in its Western New York service area. Energy East based its decision in large part on the high levels of radio frequency interference that an engineer and company officials observed during a visit to the Penn Yan field trial.
On July 29, Grand Haven, Michigan, announced that it had become the first community in the US to deploy a WiFi network that blankets the city and up to 15 miles off shore in Lake Michigan with broadband Internet access.
For more information on BPL, visit the "Broadband Over Power Line (BPL) and Amateur
Radio" page on the ARRL Web site.
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