Manassas BPL System Doesn't Comply with Database Rules, ARRL Says

NEWINGTON, CT, Nov 28, 2005--The Manassas, Virginia, BPL system does not comply with FCC Part 15 rules because its operator failed to provide full information to the public BPL database by the November 19 deadline and the system should be shut down, the ARRL has told the FCC. The letter from ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, to FCC Spectrum Enforcement Division Chief Joseph Casey comes barely six weeks after the League called on the Commission to turn off the Manassas BPL system because of unresolved interference complaints to Amateur Radio. Imlay told Casey the later correspondence supplements the earlier complaint, filed October 13 on behalf of three Manassas radio amateurs.

"The BPL system operator in Manassas failed to comply by November 19, and as of this date still has not complied," Imlay wrote November 23. The new BPL "Interference Resolution Web Site" provided by the United Power Line Council (UPLC) and the United Telecom Council (UTC) opened in mid-October. A search under ZIP code 20110 indicates the Manassas system has since provided a contact name, address, telephone number and e-mail address, but its entry still lacks details about the equipment in use. Communication Technologies (COMTek) operates the BPL system over the municipally owned electric power grid using Main.net equipment on frequencies between 4 MHz and 30 MHz, the database indicates.

Part 15 rules require that all entities operating access BPL systems provide information on all existing and proposed systems at least 30 days before initiating service. Imlay conceded that it was clearly not possible for BPL operators to give 30 days' prior notice for systems already in operation as of November 19. "Equally clear, however, is that any access BPL systems now in operation whose complete information was not available to the public as of November 19, 2005, are in violation, now that the November 19 deadline has come and gone," he added.

"Accordingly, and since the Commission has taken no action with regard to our October 13, 2005, request or issued any response," Imlay continued, "the ARRL now requests that the Commission immediately advise the BPL system operator in Manassas that it must cease operation until 30 days after the information is available as required by §15.615(a)." The League said the FCC should not allow the Manassas BPL system to resume operation until it can demonstrate full compliance with Part 15 rules regarding radiated emissions and interference to licensed services.

In a 16-page filing to the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) October 13, the ARRL said the Manassas facility has been the target of unresolved interference complaints dating back at least to early 2004. None of the complaints has resulted "in any action or even interest" on the part of the OET staff, the League asserted, and efforts by Manassas Power and COMTek have been unsuccessful in relieving the ongoing interference.

Field tests conducted by Manassas radio amateurs established that the city's BPL system "was an interference generator at distances of hundreds of feet from the modems on overhead power lines," the ARRL told the FCC October 13. "It was also, incidentally, determined that the system was susceptible to interference from nearby radio transmitters operating between 4 and 20 MHz," the League added.

Manassas formally inaugurated its citywide deployment of the high-speed Internet BPL system in early October, touting it as "the first large-scale commercial BPL deployment in North America." The city receives a portion of BPL subscriber revenues to offset its costs of installing and maintaining the system.

Additional information about BPL and Amateur Radio is on the ARRL Web site. To support the League's efforts in this area, visit the ARRL's secure BPL Fund Web site.

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