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 Previous: The K7RA Solar Update |  Next: Surfin': Brew Your Own Software Defined Radio |
 US Rep Mike Ross, WD5DVR, (D-AR) |
NEWINGTON, CT, Jun 9, 2006--On a 321 to 101 vote, the US House of Representatives on June 8 passed the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement (COPE) Act of 2006. The House-passed bill, HR 5252, left intact language that required the FCC to study the interference potential of BPL systems. US Rep Mike Ross, WD5DVR (D-AR), one of two radio amateurs in Congress, sponsored the BPL study requirement, "Study of Interference Potential of Broadband over Power Line Systems," contained in Title V, Section 502 of the complex bill. HR 5252 now goes to the US Senate, where a separate--and very different--telecoms bill, the Communications, Consumer's Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006 (S 2686) is still in committee.
"We were concerned that a representative might be persuaded by BPL interests to introduce an amendment to delete or dilute Section 502," said ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ. "As it turns out that didn't happen, although we had taken steps to counter it if it had. So for now our focus returns to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee." Sumner says that if similar language were introduced on the Senate side, it would be more likely to remain when and if the House and Senate versions go to a conference committee.
The BPL Study Language
Section 502 calls on the FCC to "conduct, and submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, a study of the interference potential of broadband over power line systems," within 90 days of the bill's enactment.
Ross proposed including the study wording while the bill was still in the Energy and Commerce Committee. With the support of Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX), the panel agreed by voice vote to include it when it reported the bill out.
The BPL study requirement reportedly has received significant opposition from electric utilities. The United Telecom Council (UTC), a bulwark of BPL support and administrator of the Interference Resolution Web site, last month referred to the study requirement as a threat and urged its members to contact their members of Congress regarding its inclusion in the House measure.
A year ago, Ross sponsored House Resolution 230 (H Res 230), which calls on the FCC to "reconsider and revise rules governing broadband over power line systems based on a comprehensive evaluation of the interference potential of those systems to public safety services and other licensed radio services." That non-binding resolution has eight cosponsors.
Ham Radio "often overlooked," Ross says
In an April 27 statement, Ross said including the FCC study requirement in the House bill "would guarantee that valuable public safety communications and Amateur Radio operators are not subject to interference." He said infrastructure-free Amateur Radio, "often overlooked in favor of flashier means of communication," can maintain communication in disasters that bring more vulnerable technology to its knees. Ham radio operators "are often the only means of communication attainable in a devastated area," Ross said.
"I believe it is imperative that the interference potential [of BPL] is thoroughly examined and comprehensively evaluated to ensure that deployment of BPL, which I do support, does not cause radio interference for Amateur Radio operators and first responders who serve our communities," Ross added.
Attention Shifts to the US Senate
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will consider S 2686 in a markup session later this month. The ARRL has e-mailed members in the 22 states with Senators on the committee, urging them to write seeking support to include similar BPL study language in the Senate bill.
The language the League wants to see in the Senate amendment to the telecom bill would call on the FCC to "conduct, and submit to the House Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, a study of the interference potential of broadband over power line systems leading to improved rules to prevent the deployment of systems having a potential to cause destructive interference to radio communication systems."
The ARRL has developed a sample letter but encourages League members to personalize their own correspondence as much as possible. The League asks members to fax their letters to the number indicated in the e-mail to members plus a copy to ARRL's government relations firm Chwat & Company, ATTN: Eric Heis, KI4NFC, 625 Slaters Ln -- Suite 103, Alexandria, VA 22314. Fax 703-684-7594.
The sample letter points out the value of Amateur Radio's role in recent disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina. "The reason we need your help is that the FCC continues to resist growing evidence that its rules are inadequate to protect radiocommunication systems, including those relied upon by First Responders, from radio spectrum pollution caused by BPL systems," the sample letter says. "The FCC needs to objectively and carefully review this evidence and adopt rules that will keep interference from BPL within reasonable bounds." The sample letter notes that not only has the FCC shown no inclination to do that, it's so far failed "to enforce its existing rules in specific, well documented instances of harmful interference."
BPL Interference is the Issue
"Remember that it is not BPL that we oppose, but BPL interference," Sumner has emphasized. "Some BPL systems are designed not to cause widespread interference, but many are not. The problem is that the FCC rules don't distinguish between the two. This is unfair to licensed radio services that must deal with the consequences of spectrum pollution."
Sumner says it's also unfair that BPL system designers who did
their homework on the interference issue "have to compete with those who
didn't."
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