Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Put BPL Proceeding On Ice for Further Interference Evaluation, ARRL Says

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 05 May 2004 17:00:55 -0400

Put BPL Proceeding On Ice for Further Interference Evaluation, ARRL Says

NEWINGTON, CT, May 5, 2004--Calling broadband over power line (BPL)
deployment on HF "a mistake, purely and simply," the ARRL asked the FCC
to put its BPL proceeding on hold to allow more thorough research of its
interference potential to licensed radio services. In comments filed May
3 in response to the FCC's February 23 Notice of Proposed Rule Making
(NPRM) in ET Docket 03-47, the League also called on the FCC to apply
"considerably more conservative radiated emission limits" to BPL than
those applying to "normal" Part 15 devices. Five technical exhibits,
including an ARRL-commissioned independent study at BPL trial areas and
additional research accompanied the League's comments.
"The Commission cannot be in such a hurry to deploy BPL as a potentially
competitive broadband delivery mechanism that it must sweep under the
rug the mounting evidence that BPL is a significant source of
interference to licensed radio services and is not in the public
interest," the ARRL declared. The League was among more than 1000
individuals and entities commenting in the proceeding by the May 3
deadline. Reply comments are due Tuesday, June 1. On the eve of the
comment deadline, the FCC denied several requests--including one from
the ARRL--to extend the comment period.

The League reiterated its assertion that the BPL proceeding "constitutes
a blind rush to judgment" for no apparent reason other than to foster
broadband competition. And it took the FCC to task for its willingness
to balance BPL's presumed benefits against the potential of harmful
inteference. "The principal obligation of the Commission in permitting
unlicensed devices or systems is to establish a radiated emission level
that is sufficiently low that by their operation they will predictably
not interfere with licensed radio services," the ARRL emphasized.

"Indeed, in this proceeding, all indications are that the Commission
simply does not want to hear the bad news, only the good, about BPL,"
the League said. "The Chairman has self-described himself as a
'cheerleader' for the technology." The League said it wanted the
opportunity to review the lengthy National Telecommunications and
Information Administration (NTIA) Part 1 BPL study released April 27
(see "NTIA Study Documents Radio Interference from BPL.").

The ARRL told the FCC that applying existing radiated emission limits to
so-called "access BPL" systems is inappropriate. "Those levels are far
too high and were designed to address the interference of point source
radiators," the League said. "It is obvious that access BPL systems are
distributive, line-source radiators" and the FCC should apply a limit
"sufficiently low as to prevent interference to mobile stations" that
might operate in a BPL-served neighborhood. The ARRL suggested that 0
dBuV/m at the antenna measured at 10 meters (approximately 39.4 feet)
from the power line would be an "acceptable" radiated emission level.

The League proposed amending Part 15 rules (§15.109) to require BPL
systems to incorporate adaptive interference resolution techniques
adequate to cause them to cease operation within an hour following a
report of harmful interference to an FCC licensee's station. The BPL
system then couldn't resume operation within one kilometer
(approximately 0.62 mile) of the complainant's station "unless and until
the harmful interference is resolved." The ARRL also would require BPL
systems to supply detailed information on their systems to a public
Web-based database.

The League says the FCC's NPRM offers no support for its conclusion that
interference to licensed services would be minimal, and it noted that
amateur licensees have filed more than two dozen BPL interference
complaints with the FCC.
"Some of these interference problems have persisted, notwithstanding the
good faith efforts of some BPL service providers to resolve the
problems," the ARRL said. In other cases, the complaints are simply
ignored. None has been adjudicated by the Commission, as far as the ARRL
can tell."

Instead, the League said, amateurs' BPL complaints "remain under wraps"
in the Office of Engineering and Technology instead of being handled by
the FCC's Enforcement Bureau, which typically deals with power line
noise complaints from radio amateurs.

"Mere mitigation" of interference is not sufficient, the ARRL said. "It
is the absolute obligation of the operator of a Part 15 device or system
to prevent interference," the League's comment said, pointing out that
the FCC's NPRM does not require interference resolution. "It only
requires some unspecified 'mitigation,' and the determination of what
level of mitigation is sufficient is apparently left to the subjective
evaluation of the BPL provider."

"The interference to fixed amateur stations located in residences in
normal geographic proximity to overhead power lines will be devastating
and will preclude Amateur Radio communications," the League said,
calling the mitigation techniques the FCC has proposed "too little, too
late to avoid widespread interference."

Referring to its main BPL study, the League said measurements at one
site within a BPL test system in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, "exceeded FCC
Part 15 limits by up to 20 dB or more. At another test site in
Whitehall, Pennsylvania, where another technology has been deployed, the
study concluded that the BPL signals, while apparently within Part 15
limits, "would have interfered seriously with reception of Amateur Radio
signals."

The ARRL contends that the FCC's "overly aggressive timetable" to
proceed with BPL systems will effectively preclude the development of
cooperative interference avoidance and resolution mechanisms.

"This proceeding should be placed on hold for a year in order to work
out appropriate interference avoidance and resolution standards," the
League concluded.

Other entities filing comments in the proceeding included AMSAT-NA, the
North American Shortwave Association, and the Association of
Public-Safety Communications Officials-International Inc (APCO) and the
National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC), which filed
joint comments.

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/05/05/2/?nc=1

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://companion.yahoo.com
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/61FxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

-- 
    "NEXTEL-1 IT'S NOT JUST NEXTEL"
  Note The New address 
Subscribe to Nextel-1: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL-1

  "NEXTEL2 FOR iDEN SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS"
Subscribe to Nextel2: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL2

  "WIRELESS FORUM HOMELAND SECURITY GROUP"
     The Complete Resource for Wireless Homeland Security.
Subscribe to WFHSG:  http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/WFHSG

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEXTEL-1/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     [email-masked]

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/