Pennsylvania Utility Cites Unfavorable Economics in Ending
BPL Trial
 Metavox Inc conducted BPL electromagnetic emission tests
on behalf of ARRL at PPL Telecom BPL field trials in Emmaus (above) and Whitehall, Pennsylvania. [Metavox Inc Photo] |
NEWINGTON, CT, Oct 5, 2005--PPL Broadband announced this week that
it's terminating its broadband over power line (BPL) experiment in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley. According to media reports, the company is citing the high cost of a
full-scale BPL rollout and competition from cable and DSL service in the region
as the reason for the shutdown. Approximately 300 households participating in
the trial were said to be paying $40 a month for the high-speed Internet
service. Although interference was reported by Amateur Radio stations in some of PPL Broadband's BPL service area, PPL did not cite the interference problems as one of the reasons it dropped out of the BPL race.
"Several local amateurs reported interference to their
home stations," said ARRL Laboratory Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI, who visited the Lehigh Valley several times to take measurements on the BPL system's emissions. "While this
was resolved in whole or in part by PPL, in one case the interference was 'fixed'
by turning off BPL completely to the street in front of the amateur reporting
the interference." Even so, Hare says, the amateur continued to experience
moderate interference from other parts of the system.
PPL claimed it had no BPL equipment operating on the
spectrum the complaint targeted. During a visit a few weeks later, however,
Hare said he was able to quickly pinpoint the source "on the band PPL claimed
it wasn't using" about a half mile away from the ham's location. "PPL never was
able to completely resolve that case," Hare said.
Hare reports the BPL system was creating S9 noise on
entire ham bands within a "rather large" deployment area. "Had this system
continued to build out, additional reports of interference from mobile and
fixed amateur operation would have been inevitable," he predicted.
ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, said he wasn't surprised to learn
of PPL's decision to get out of BPL. "It bears out what knowledgeable economists
have been saying about BPL's prospects for some time," he said. "PPL has considerable
excess fiber capacity and was trying to leverage that investment by offering broadband
service to consumers via BPL. If they couldn't make it pay, it's doubtful anyone
else can."
The Allentown company first offered BPL Internet service
in Whitehall Township and Emmaus, later expanding to parts of Bethlehem, Upper Macungie Township, Hanover Township and Northampton County. In its formal comments
in the FCC BPL proceeding, the ARRL cited measurements taken at one site within
the BPL test system in Emmaus that "exceeded FCC Part 15 limits by up to 20 dB
or more."
An October 4 article in Allentown's The Morning Call
newspaper quoted PPL spokesman Jim Santanasto as saying that the utility couldn't
charge enough in the face of stiff cable and DSL competition and that its pool
of potential customers was too small. ''The economies of scale wouldn't work,''
the paper quoted Santanasto as saying.
PPL Broadband reportedly will cut off its residential
customers at month's end and give each a $50 credit to ease their transition to
another Internet service provider.
Page last modified: 09:38 AM, 07 Oct 2005 ET
Page author: awextra@arrl.org
Copyright © 2005, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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