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![Previous (earlier) Story](/images/sty-down.gif ""Hello" Campaign to Put Friendly, Inviting Face on Amateur Radio"){kind=small} Previous: "Hello" Campaign to Put Friendly, Inviting Face on Amateur Radio |  Next: The Amateur Radio Crossword Puzzler |
NEWINGTON, CT, Feb 14, 2006--Calling the FCC-mandated BPL Interference Resolution Web site "woefully incomplete and improperly managed," the ARRL has called on the FCC to order database manager United Telecom Council (UTC) to fix it immediately or appoint "a competent database manager" to repair the problems.
"The database management is either shamefully incompetent on the part of UTC or simply nonexistent," the ARRL said in a complaint today to the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology (OET). "The database is merely 'garbage in, garbage out,' and in its present form cannot serve any useful purpose at all, much less a 'sufficient' means of addressing BPL interference." A copy of the complaint also went to the FCC's Enforcement Bureau as well as to UTC.
ARRL Denied Access
Error message ARRL received while trying to access BPL Interference Resolution Database. |
In an apparently related development, UTC has terminated the ARRL's access to the BPL Interference Resolution Web site. The League plans to file a separate complaint to the FCC on that issue. The BPL database should be accessible from other ISPs, however, and the ARRL wants to hear from anyone else spotting discrepancies as well as from those whose database access has been curtailed or cut off altogether. A notice on the opening page of the BPL database declares that individuals are allowed "a limited number" of searches each month. "Individuals are advised not to conduct random searches of the database, or their access to the database may be further restricted," the UTC warns.
League efforts to access the database yielded this error message: "The system has determined that this line of searching constitutes unauthorized use of the database. Cease operations immediately."
The ARRL already has complained about the UTC database's use of ZIP codes as a sole database access key and has requested that the FCC require UTC to provide a list of ZIP codes where BPL systems are in operation or going into operation to simplify searches.
BPL Database Required by FCC Rules
The FCC ordered creation of the BPL Interference Resolution database in October 2004, when it adopted new Part 15 rules to govern BPL systems. "The primary intent of our notification and database requirements is to ensure that licensed users of the spectrum have a publicly accessible and centralized source of information on BPL operations to determine whether there may be Access BPL operations on particular frequencies within their local area so that any incident of harmful interference can be resolved should it occur," the FCC said in its Report and Order.
FCC rules require Access BPL operators to provide certain information 30 days before commencing operations. The database is supposed to include the name of the BPL provider, frequencies of operation, postal ZIP codes served, manufacturer and type of BPL equipment, a point-of-contact telephone number and e-mail address for interference inquiries and resolution, and the proposed or actual date the system will start operation. The database manager has three days from the date of receipt to enter the information into the database.
Database of Mutual Benefit
Having correct and up-to-date information in the BPL Interference Resolution Database benefits both BPL providers and licensed services, the League has pointed out. For example, a radio amateur suspecting BPL interference might be able to rule out the possibility by consulting the database.
ARRL Laboratory Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI--the League's point man on BPL technical issues--says that while the BPL database has shortcomings limiting its usefulness, ARRL staff have until now made extensive use of it to help the Amateur Radio Service appropriately deal with interference questions and problems.
"In the past, when amateurs have reported BPL interference, one industry response has been to claim that the amateur station is hearing some other noise and thinking that it's BPL," Hare said "By locating these systems soon after they've appeared in the database, the League has been able to advise amateurs in affected ZIP codes that they should document current noise and noise levels. This way, when the BPL system becomes operational, it will be easy to tell whether there is any significant change in noise levels, or not, preventing erroneous reports that could have occurred otherwise."
The ARRL's BPL Interference Database page provides more information about BPL systems than "the minimal database maintained by the UTC," Hare added.
Fox in the Henhouse
The ARRL said in its complaint that even assuming UTC intends its BPL database to be available to radio amateurs to determine the source of possible BPL interference, the FCC should require UTC "to revisit every entry in the database and verify independently the information provided." Alternatively, the League requested that the FCC relieve UTC as database manager and appoint a new one that will supervise it properly.
"The fox, therefore, should be withdrawn from the henhouse," the League said.
Complaint Includes Database Discrepancies
Attached to the League's letter of complaint was a compilation of BPL database errors and omissions the ARRL discovered between January 27 and February 14, 2006. "There may be others," the ARRL noted. "The attached list includes eight BPL systems that are not in the database at all, which are clearly in operation in violation of the Commission's Rules. It includes two systems which were placed in operation prior to, or contemporaneous with, their listing in the database, rather than 30 days after their listing in the database."
One listing lacks contact information, systems operating in two ZIP codes contain no equipment information, and nearly three dozen systems said to be in operation and entered in the database lack FCC ID numbers or equipment model numbers, the League says. Three listings contain no frequency information, while another five contain incorrect, ambiguous, or incomplete information about the frequencies being used.
Hare said the ARRL has a responsible program for dealing with other types of interference, and it wants to continue that with BPL interference and ensure that amateurs having problems properly identify and report it. "The UTC's escalating restrictions on access to the database will serve little other purpose other than to make it harder for amateurs to identify BPL interference correctly," he said.
Scofflaw Attitudes
In its complaint, the League said the FCC is obliged under its Part 15 rules to apply sanctions on BPL providers not complying with the database requirements. "The eight systems that are operating but which are not included in the database should be shut down immediately," the League added.
Most noteworthy are the Briarcliff Manor, New York, and Allentown, Pennsylvania-area BPL systems that have been the cause of substantial interference to Amateur Radio stations. The League recently asked the FCC to shut down the Briarcliff Manor system because of longstanding interference complaints to which the FCC has not adequately responded.
"Those BPL operators have no incentive whatsoever to comply with the database requirements, since their scofflaw attitudes about compliance with the few BPL regulations that the Commission has imposed to date, and with interference resolution obligations, have been rewarded by Commission inaction on the complaints filed," the ARRL complaint said.
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