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 Previous: Seventh Grader Takes Best in Show with Ham Radio Science Project |  Next: The K7RA Solar Update |
NEWINGTON, CT, Apr 14, 2005--International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 (IARU-R1) has alerted member-societies to wording in a European Commission Recommendation that suggests regulators take into account "the importance" of BPL services as well as their "technical and economic aspects" when resolving interference complaints. The European Commission formally issued the Recommendation--circulating in draft form since last year--on April 6 in Brussels. It was published April 12. The Recommendation calls on the 25 European Community member states to ease regulatory burdens that might stand in the way of deploying BPL--known more commonly in Europe as power line communications or PLC.
"National authorities have an objective to promote competition in the provision of electronic communications networks which include power line communications networks," the Commission Recommendation states. "They should thus remove any unjustified regulatory obstacles, in particular on utility companies, to deploy and operate electronic communications networks over their power lines."
IARU Region 1 European Commission Working Group Chairman Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, says an EC Recommendation is "less compulsory" than a Directive. "If a member state wishes not to follow such a Recommendation, it can do so, provided a justifiable refusal be addressed to the European Commission and to all the member states," he explained in the April 13 edition of the IARU-R1 EUROCOM Newsletter.
According to Bertels, during Communications Commission (COCOM) discussions on the draft Recommendation, some member states expressed reluctance to include the statement that member states "should take into account economic and social aspects of the services involved" when taking "proportionate" measures to resolve interference from PLC systems.
"It is quite possible that they will address a declaration to the Commission to justify that they will refuse to let a legally authorized radio service be sacrificed in favor of broadband through power lines," Bertels said, "even 'taking into account economic and social aspects.'"
Bertels noted that the EC already has rejected IARU-R1 assertions that the Recommendation--at the time still in draft form but approved by the COCOM--would constitute a breach of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radio Regulations, which have the force of a treaty. The EC said it did not view the Recommendation as incompatible with the ITU insofar as "the objective of the normative measures is to protect radiocommunications by solving interference problems."
The Recommendation says that if interference from a PLC system cannot be resolved, "competent authorities" should verify that the system complies with the European Commission's electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) Directive. "If non-compliance is identified, the competent authorities should impose proportionate, non-discriminatory and transparent enforcement measures to bring the system into compliance," the Recommendation states.
If the system is deemed compliant but is still causing interference, the Recommendation continues, competent authorities in member states "should take special measures" to resolve it, taking into account the system's economic and social benefits in the process. It suggested "notching" as one possible solution.
Bertels urged IARU delegates of European Community member societies "to report on any information concerning the position adopted by their governments and regulatory authorities relative to the Commission Recommendation."
In filings with the FCC, the ARRL this month challenged the notion put forward by some BPL proponents and the FCC that a balancing test exists between BPL's purported public benefits and its potential to interfere with licensed services. "There is no balancing to be done in the case of compatibility between unlicensed devices and licensed radio services," the ARRL asserted April 1. The remark was contained in a Reply to Oppositions filing in the FCC BPL proceeding.
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