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 Previous: Microgravity Complicates Haircuts in Space, Astronaut Tells Students |  Next: The K7RA Solar Update |
 Last March, FCC Chairman Michael Powell took a firsthand look at a BPL-provided Internet connection in the home of Bud Howard in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina. EarthLink has been marketing the service. |
NEWINGTON, CT, Aug 6, 2004--Progress Energy Corporation (PEC) says it's completed Phase II of its broadband over power line (BPL) field trial in the Raleigh, North Carolina, area. In an August 4 PEC internal memorandum made available to ARRL, the company said its program to "test the viability of providing broadband service to communities it serves" will wrap up by the end of August, although PEC still plans to explore "several key strategic issues" regarding BPL through the end of this year. The company reportedly will shut down the system once it's able to move its BPL customers to other broadband providers.
"Currently, the company does not have plans for a large-scale commercial rollout of BPL in the company's service territories," the memorandum states. Progress Energy's decision comes on the heels of announced shutdowns of BPL field trials in Penn Yan, New York, and Cedar Rapids , Iowa.
PEC Vice President of Energy Delivery Solutions Lisa Myers
said the utility obtained significant information about the design,
construction and operation of a BPL system. "Overall, this has been a
successful test for us," the memorandum quotes her as saying. "We have gathered
valuable information about broadband over power lines and its potential." During
its six-month Phase I and Phase II tests, the utility says it offered broadband
service to more than 400 homes in southern Wake County. Earlier this year, FCC
Chairman Michael Powell visited the BPL field trial to promote the technology,
and local radio amateurs spoke briefly with him about their interference
concerns (see "North
Carolina Hams Experience Close BPL Encounter with FCC Chairman").
 Progress Energy has been operating its "Phase II" trial in three neighborhoods south of Raleigh since early January. [Gary Pearce, KN4AQ, Photo] |
The PEC memorandum acknowledged Amateur Radio interference complaints. "BPL has met with vocal opposition from amateur or 'ham' radio operators who are concerned that the service will interfere with the radio frequencies they use," it said. "Some complaints were filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) during Phase II by ham radio operators using mobile equipment in search of BPL signals."
Responding to one complaint, the FCC earlier this summer took measurements in the field trial area, and FCC Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) Deputy Chief Bruce A. Franca said the FCC had concluded that PEC's BPL trial "is in compliance" with FCC rules and that the company's ham band notching efforts "are effective" to avoid the potential for harmful interference. The ARRL has requested clarification of certain claims made in Franca's July 22 letter, however (see "ARRL Seeks Clarification of FCC Response to BPL Interference Complaint"). The memorandum cites PEC Director of Emerging Technologies Matt Oja as saying the utility conducted its BPL trial "strictly in accordance with existing FCC limits and measurement procedures." Oja said the technology PEC selected--by Amperion--"allowed us to address all complaints by changing the settings to mitigate interference."
One of the amateurs who's been closely monitoring Progress
Energy's foray into BPL--Gary Pearce, KN4AQ--says he's pleased with the
utility's decision. "It's a positive thing for ham radio that Progress Energy
is not going to be pursuing BPL for whatever reason they decided not to do it,"
Pearce told ARRL. "It's going to make a lot of hams in Eastern North Carolina
happy."
 A pole-mounted BPL extractor in the Progress Energy Corp system. [Gary Pearce, KN4AQ, Photo] |
Despite the apparent "clean bill of health" from the FCC, Pearce says he believes the specter of interference loomed large in PEC's decision to not deploy a full-blown BPL system at this point. "We kept pointing out to them that things probably would be much worse if they deployed in a large area," he said. "Maybe that's what they saw. It's hard to tell--they're really not saying."
Pearce acknowledged that Progress Energy and Amperion personnel worked closely with local amateurs to notch out interference on HF amateur frequencies. Effective notching turned out to be more difficult than anticipated, however. Even following the FCC's visit to take measurements, amateurs continued to report strong BPL interference on the high end of 20 meters as well as in the HF international broadcast bands.
FCC measurements indicated notch depths averaging 24 dB below Part 15 emission limits, which Franca characterized as "sufficient to eliminate any signals that would be deemed capable of causing harmful interference, including interference to amateur operations." ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, asserted in response that Part 15 device operators "must eliminate all harmful interference, and therefore in some cases must achieve more--in certain cases, considerably more--than a 24 dB reduction in order to be in compliance."
A news report on Progress Energy's BPL decision appeared in the August 6 editions of the Raleigh News & Observer.
There's more information
about BPL and Amateur Radio on the ARRL Web site.
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