ARRLWeb: Broadband Over Power Line (BPL) and Amateur Radio

**2007 articles**
Date	Title
December 1, 2007	Aurora Pulls The Plug on BPL (Australia) "ABC news reported today that Tasmanian electricity retailer, Aurora Energy, is planning to end its Tasmanian BPL trial. The Aurora Chief Executive, Peter Davis, is reported to have said that Aurora's BPL trial 'does not have the resources to maintain its viability', and 'certainly it hasn't been a good money-making exercise for Aurora'. Aurora spent about $2 million since the inception of the trial in 2004, and during that time has seriously addressed the interference aspects of BPL with some success. However at the end of the day it appears that the economics in an increasingly competitive environment just didn't stack up for BPL in Tasmania."
December 1, 2007	Aurora Cuts Communications (Australia) "Aurora Energy announced last Tuesday that is was pulling the plug (no pun intended) on its BPL trial in Hobart and Burnie, Tasmania.Aurora's announcement follows two similar announcements in the United States by Austin Energy in Austin, Texas and by Duke Energy in North Carolina.Aurora in their press release stated that they were shifting their focus to fibre to deliver high speed communications around the State."
November 28, 2007	Aurora shifts focus to fibre in telecommunications strategy Aurora Energy has announced a significant shift in its telecommunications business, to build on major successes in optical fibre activities which are delivering high speed communications around the State. As a result of increasing competition and the rapidly changing national policy position for retail telecommunications, Aurora is to divest its involvement with the local retailer TasTel and conclude its Broadband over Powerlines initiative.
November 14, 2007	FCC "Admonishes" Ambient over BPL Issues The FCC, in a letter to Yehuda Cern, Chief Engineer for Ambient Corporation, concluded their investigation into whether Ambient's BPL operation caused "harmful interference" to Amateur Radio stations in Briarcliff Manor, New York. The Commission found that "Ambient's BPL operation has violated the radiated emission limits of Section 15.109" of the FCC Rules "and the terms of its experimental license, call sign WD2XEQ." The FCC's letter went on to say that "we hereby admonish Ambient." No findings were made, however, as to whether or not the system actually caused interference to Amateur Radio, and the Enforcement Bureau left open the issue of future experimental BPL operations at Briarcliff Manor.
November 5, 2007	FCC Releases Broadband Report The FCC has released their latest report summarizing the state of broadband in the US as of December 2006. It shows that in December 2006, Internet-access BPL has increased slightly over December 2005, but also shows that it has been decreasing slightly from a peak that occurred sometime around mid-2006. According to the report, BPL ended up with a deployment total of 0.006 percent of the total broadband lines in the US, compared to 0.011 percent at the end of December 2005.
October 25, 2007	ARRL Faces FCC in Federal Court over BPL Issues On Tuesday, October 23, the ARRL faced the Federal Communications Commission in the US Court of Appeals over the continuing debate concerning harmful interference to licensed radio services from unlicensed Broadband over Powerline (BPL) systems. BPL is the delivery of broadband Internet communications using unshielded electrical wiring to conduct high-speed digital signals to homes and businesses. BPL systems are designed to conduct RF energy through unshielded, medium voltage power lines, using some or all of the HF spectrum between 1.7-80 MHz. At those frequencies on unshielded overhead power lines, the electrical wiring not only conducts the signals, it radiates them very efficiently for very substantial distances from the power lines.
September 5, 2007	NATO Group Releases Report on BPL The Information Systems Technology group, part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Research and Technology Organization (RTO), released their report, HF Interference, Procedures and Tools (RTO-TR-IST-050), in June. This report "address[es] the concerns raised by the potential for unintentional radio interference to be caused by the widespread operation of broadband wire-line telecommunications systems."
September 1, 2007	Draft PLT regulations under the spotlight "South African regulator ICASA has asked the EMC workgroup of the STANSA TC73 and TC80 committees to come up with draft regulations for type approval of PLT (also known as BPL) equipment as an interim measure. . . The South African Radio League (SARL) is represented at the Workgroup and has made its input. There is much ongoing debate and unhappiness about the SARL's demands that all Amateur Radio HF frequencies be notched at the time of installation. In particular the vendors of PLT equipment would only like to notch when an interference complaint is received. The SARL's view is that Radio Amateurs are licensed to operate on HF and that their rights should be protected."
Aug 30, 2007	FCC Issues Two Citations in Longstanding Power Line Noise Case -- The Federal Communication Commission's Dallas Field Office issued Citations on July 25 to two utilities in a longstanding power line noise case in Lubbock, Texas. Bryan Edwards, W5KFT, of Lubbock, first reported the interference concerning the two involved utilities, Lubbock Power & Light (LP&L) and Xcel Energy, as early as 1994.
August 16, 2007	DirecTV Announces Plan to Provide Service via BPL According to the August 15 edition of The Wall Street Journal, "Satellite-television provider DirecTV announced a wholesale agreement today with Current Group to provide high-speed Internet service over electric-power lines," otherwise known as broadband over powerlines (BPL). . . ARRL Laboratory Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI, commented, "ARRL and Current have communicated regularly over the past few years. Current has been an early leader in carefully choosing its design to avoid interference to Amateur Radio. They don't operate below 30 MHz on overhead lines at all, and use HomePlug technology, which doesn't use the ham bands, in customers' premises. To date, ARRL has no Amateur Radio interference reports involving Current or HomePlug equipment."
August 15, 2007	BPL Industry Representative Appointed to ARRL EMC Committee ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, has appointed Brent Zitting, KB4SL, of Huntsville, Alabama, to serve on ARRL's ElectroMagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Committee. Zitting, a 25-year ARRL member, is employed by IBEC, a BPL manufacturer and integrator located in Huntsville, Alabama. The EMC Committee, chaired by Roanoke Division Director Dennis Bodson, W4PWF, consists of representatives from various industries that are interested in helping ARRL effectively and appropriately work with industry on interference issues.
July 1, 2007	It Seems to Us: ARRL v. FCC On May 17, attorneys representing the ARRL filed the initial brief in support of our petition for judicial review of the FCC's flawed rules governing Access Broadband over Power Line (BPL) systems. This is an important step on the road to what we hope will be a favorable decision by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
June 26, 2007	ARRL Staffers Meet in Geneva to Discuss BPL, Handbook ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ just finished up a meeting of International Telecommunication Union-Radio Communication Sector (ITU-R) Working Party 1A (WP 1A) in Geneva, Switzerland. This group, responsible for spectrum engineering techniques within Study Group 1 (spectrum management), worked on a document that may eventually become what's called a "preliminary draft new report" on the impact of power line telecommunications (PLT, or BPL on this side of the Atlantic) on radiocommunication systems operating below 80 MHz.
June 24, 2007	PLT IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE SYSTEM WHILE INTERFERENCE TO HF IS POTENTIALLY HIGH This was the message that the SARL delivered to the Broadband Conference held at the Sandton Convention Centre during the past week.
June 1, 2007	ARRL to FCC: Shut Down "Grossly Noncompliant" Ambient BPL Pilot Project The ARRL has again demanded that the FCC shut down Ambient Corporation's broadband over power line (BPL) pilot project in Briarcliff Manor, New York. On May 21 the FCC called on the BPL equipment maker and system operator to demonstrate it's complying with all terms of the Part 5 Experimental license authorizing the system, or face possible enforcement action. In a May 31 letter to FCC Spectrum Enforcement Division Chief Kathryn S. Berthot, ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, contended that it's "long past time that the Commission enforce its own rules," and again objected to the Commission's "inexplicable inaction" in the face of evidence the system is noncompliant. Imlay pointed out that the FCC's May 21 letter made no mention of Condition #1 of Ambient's Part 5 Experimental license.
May 24, 2007	ARRL Files Federal Appeals Court Brief in Petition for Review of BPL Rules The ARRL has filed a federal appeals court brief outlining its case and requesting oral arguments in its petition for review of the FCC's broadband over power line (BPL) rules. The League has petitioned the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit to review the FCC's October 2004 Report and Order (R&O) in ET Docket 04-37 and its 2006 Memorandum Opinion and Order. In its brief filed May 17, the ARRL contends, among other things, that the FCC's actions in adopting rules to govern unlicensed BPL systems fundamentally alter the longstanding rights of radio spectrum licensees, including Amateur Radio operators.
May 23, 2007	FCC Demands Ambient Demonstrate Compliance with BPL License Conditions The FCC has called on BPL equipment manufacturer Ambient Corporation to demonstrate that it's complying with all terms of its Part 5 Experimental license or face possible enforcement action. Ambient operates the Briarcliff Manor, New York, BPL pilot program under Experimental license WD2XEQ. In a May 21 letter to Ambient Chief Engineer Yehuda Cern, FCC Spectrum Enforcement Division Chief Kathryn S. Berthot noted that the FCC is investigating ARRL complaints dating back to 2006 that Ambient's Briarcliff Manor BPL system has caused and continues to cause harmful interference to Amateur Radio stations. She said Ambient's most recent six-month report failed to address one condition of its Part 5 license relating to emission measurements to prove compliance.
April 24, 2007	Motorola Suspends Powerline LV BPL Development Motorola has taken what it has learned from the development of its access BPL Powerline LV BPL systems and focuses that experience in its in-premise BPL application. Its Powerline MU system will be marketed primarily to multi-unit environments. This system will use the same Amateur band notching as was implemented successfully in Motorola's Powerline LV system.
April 15, 2007	*CES Not Just for Consumers (QST* magazine, "Eclectic Technology")** ARRL meets with HomePlug officials at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. "ARRL Laboratory Supervisor Ed Hare, W1RFI, knows HomePlug well. 'ARRL has a long-standing cooperative relationship with HomePlug,' Hare said, "helping them to make the decision not to use the amateur bands in their product specification. This has been a successful model. Over the past 7 years, even though there are over 6 million HomePlug devices deployed, ARRL does not have a single report of harmful interference to Amateur Radio involving HomePlug products. If the entire BPL industry could follow their lead and formally do what HomePlug has determined needs to be done, interference from BPL could become a manageable problem.'"
March 7, 2007	Cooperation Rules as Radio Amateurs "Down Under" Confront BPL Interference "It was a scenario unlikely to be played out anytime soon in the US: The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), radio amateurs and a broadband over power line (BPL) provider worked hand-in-hand to measure background noise and emissions at a BPL trial site. ACMA's late February visit was in response to a BPL interference complaint from Ian Paul, VK3LJJ. Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) Director Phil Wait, VK2DKN, was on hand for the field tests at the Mt Beauty BPL pilot in Victoria."
March 2, 2007	Concord BPL Update "It's been learned that negotiations between Concord Municipal Light Plant and PowerGrid Communications of Meridian, Idaho have hit a snag, according to one official with the town's utility. He reports that Concord Municipal Light Plant has gone through several iterations with PowerGrid, but they have been unable to come up with a plan that 'ends with a positive cash flow.'"
February 13, 2007	BPL Study Bill Gains Cosponsors "A bill in the US House of Representatives calling on the FCC to study the interference potential of broadband over power line (BPL) technology and report its findings back to Congress has gained two cosponsors, its sponsor, US Rep Mike Ross, WD5DVR (D-AR), reports. They are US Rep Steve Israel (D-NY) and US Rep Ron Paul (R-TX)."
February 7, 2007	ARRL Seeks to Force FCC to Produce Documents on BPL Complaint Dismissals "The ARRL has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking to compel the FCC to provide several documents related to its dismissal of several broadband over power line (BPL) interference complaints from radio amateurs in Manassas, Virginia. The FCC on December 14 told five Manassas radio amateurs that it was throwing out their complaints, asserting that its measurements last October 25 and 26 showed the Manassas BPL system to be in compliance. The ARRL has disputed the FCC's findings . . ."
February 1, 2007	League Criticizes FCC Chairman for Perpetuating BPL Service Myth ARRL criticized FCC Chairman Kevin Martin for using outdated, misleading BPL-industry-supplied information in FCC's testimony to Congress. In the 2006 map fed to the FCC by the United Power Line Council, there were a number of BPL cities shown that have been shut down for as long as a couple of years. Subsequent to ARRL calling this to the FCC's attention, Comparing the new map provided by UPLC to the old shows that the number of BPL installations in the US is a significantly smaller number than they told the Chairman.
January 18, 2007	Bill Seeks BPL Interference Study, Report to Congress US Rep Mike Ross, WD5DVR (D-AR), has introduced a bill in the 110th Congress calling on the FCC to study the interference potential of broadband over power line (BPL) technology and report its findings back to Congress. One of two radio amateurs in the House, Ross submitted the "Emergency Amateur Radio Interference Protection Act of 2007" (HR 462) on January 12.
January 11, 2007	Brazilian power company launches BPL pilot project According to media reports, Brazilian power distributor Eletropaulo plans to begin testing broadband over power line (BPL) Internet service in São Paulo, Brazil. Eletropaulo reportedly has been conducting BPL lab tests for the past three years. The reports indicate that the utility now considers BPL to have reached the point where it's economically viable to offer it to residential users.
January 10, 2007	BPL System Could Be Deployed In Concord "This is a DS2-chipset system made by Corinex. Such a system has been recently installed in Houston, Texas, operated by CenterPoint, the electric utility. Although there was one complaint to a home Amateur station, it was quickly resolved by notching the Amateur bands. At this point, in Houston the Amateur bands are notched in the entire system. I evaluated the Houston system a few months ago and found that with good communication between hams and the BPL operator and careful operation and notching, it is possible to operate a DS2-based BPL system without major interference problems. The same cooperation exists in Concord." - Ed Hare W1RFI

Date	Title
February 1, 2008	NTIA report on Broadband in America 2007 inflates BPL figures David Sumner, K1ZZ ARRL Chief Executive Officer highlights the distortions with regard to the polluting BPL technology that appeared in the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) report 'Networked Nation: Broadband in America 2007'.

Broadband Over Power Line (BPL) and Amateur Radio

2007 and 2008 News and Updates -- Amateur Radio