ARRL disappointed with Administration
over BPL Report and Order
The ARRL has expressed its disappointment with the Bush administration's
failure "to prevent radio spectrum pollution by BPL systems."
In a November 1 letter to Secretary of Commerce Donald L. Evans copied
to President George W. Bush, ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, recalled
Evans' assurances on the administration's behalf earlier this year "that
we are responsible and sensitive to valuable incumbent [radiocommunication]
systems." Haynie told Evans the FCC's BPL Report and Order (R&O)
in ET Docket 04-37 - adopted October 14 and released two weeks later - suggests otherwise.
"Despite excellent work conducted by the technical staff of your
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to document
the extensive harmful interference that will occur if BPL systems are
deployed at the radiated emission limits presently permitted by the FCC
rules," Haynie said, "it appears that the NTIA concurred in
the FCC's decision not to tighten those limits."
The FCC maintains that BPL emissions are localized and at low enough
levels to preclude harmful interference in the first place, and it has
left the door open to possibly upping the limit in the future.
Haynie pointed out that both international treaty and US law entitle
licensed radiocommunication services to protection from harmful interference
that unlicensed systems like BPL might generate. "Despite this,"
he continued, "the FCC has shifted the burden for initiating
interference mitigation from the BPL system operator to the radio licensee."
The NTIA's September 13 submission to the FCC shows that at FCC Part 15
limits, the probability of harmful interference is essentially 100 percent
within 200 to 400 meters (approximately 660 to 1300 feet) of a power line
carrying BPL signals - depending on the operating frequency.
"Amateur Radio stations are typically located in residential areas,
nearly always well within such distances," Haynie noted. "The
FCC's Report and Order provides no assurance that when interference occurs - as
it unquestionably will - it will be promptly eliminated."
As part of the Commerce Department, the NTIA not only administers radio
spectrum allocated to federal government users but advises the White House
on telecommunications policy. On June 24, President Bush extolled BPL
during a speech on technological innovation even while acknowledging interference
concerns.
Haynie said the League will continue efforts to improve the R&O.
Calling the HF spectrum "a unique and priceless resource," the
ARRL president expressed regret that the administration "is willing
to squander such a unique natural resource in order to provide a short-range
broadband
connection that can easily be provided by several other non-polluting
means."
ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, echoed Haynie's concerns. The FCC R&O,
he said, "shifts the burden to licensed operators to react to interference
rather than adopting rules to prevent interference from occurring."
The R&O advises locating "sensitive receiver antennas" as
far as practically
possible from power lines. Additionally, the FCC admonished ARRL that
in cases where its members experience RF noise, "such noise can often
be avoided by carefully locating their antennas."
Reacted Sumner: "If a BPL system operator wants to meet its obligation
by picking up all of the costs of relocating a licensee's antenna, it's
free to make the offer."
If interference occurs, the new Part 15 rules will require BPL system
operators to employ "interference avoidance techniques" such
as "frequency band selection, notching, or judicious device placement."
Notches would have to be at least 20 dB - slightly more than 3 S units - below
applicable
Part 15 limits on HF and at least 10 dB below Part 15 limits on VHF - not
much protection for weaker signals common in HF work.
"We might be more optimistic if there had, to date, been a single
instance when the FCC had ordered a BPL system to terminate operation
for causing harmful interference," Sumner said. "The Commission
continues to be in denial, despite hundreds of pages of documentation
of ongoing
interference."
Sumner said the ARRL was gratified that the FCC R&O recognized that
BPL devices have significantly greater interference potential than other
Part 15 devices and that the Commission will require certification of
BPL systems rather than the less-stringent verification. Additionally,
Sumner said, the League was pleased that the FCC-mandated public BPL system
database will require systems to be listed several weeks ahead of actual
implementation so that amateurs and others have advance notice.
ARRL officials continue to mull possible formal responses to the R&O.
The ARRL Executive Committee already has okayed the filing of a Petition
for Reconsideration. It further authorized ARRL General Counsel Chris
Imlay, W3KD, to "prepare to pursue other available remedies as to
procedural and substantive defects" in the BPL proceeding.
For more information on BPL, visit the Broadband
Over Power Line (BPL) and Amateur Radio Web page.
Source: ARRL Letter - courtesy of The
American Radio Relay League
|
