Subject: [NEXTEL-1] FCC CHAIRMAN ASSURES CONGRESSMAN ON BPL STUDIES

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2004 15:59:11 -0500

FCC CHAIRMAN ASSURES CONGRESSMAN ON BPL STUDIES

FCC Chairman Michael Powell has assured US Representative Greg Walden,
WB7OCE, that the Commission will give "thorough consideration" to all
Broadband over Power Line (BPL) studies before it takes final action on
BPL. Powell responded February 3 to Walden's January 15 letter
requesting
that the FCC defer any further action in its BPL proceeding until the
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)
releases
the results of its BPL study and the public has had a chance to comment.
On February 12 the FCC took the proceeding to the next level,
unanimously
approving the issuance of a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM). Among
other provisions, the NPRM would require BPL providers to employ
"adaptive
interference-mitigation techniques."

"Please be assured that we have already begun coordination of this
action
with NTIA," Powell told Walden, "and that the Commission will give all
studies, including the forthcoming NTIA study, thorough consideration
prior to any final action or rules on the subject." The FCC has not yet
released the BPL NPRM nor invited public comments. An Office of
Engineering and Technology (OET) briefing at the FCC's February 12 open
meeting indicated that the Commission would make no changes in Part 15
rules governing emissions from unlicensed devices. To date, the FCC has
released only a public notice on its BPL proposals.

Walden, a member of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the
Internet, had told the FCC chairman that, in view of the importance of
avoiding interference to federal government HF communications, the FCC
should give the pending NTIA study a thorough airing before proposing
any
rules to govern BPL systems. The Oregon Republican is one of two Amateur
Radio licensees in the US House.

Commenting on last April's FCC BPL Notice of Inquiry in ET Docket
03-104,
the NTIA had expressed "broad concern" about the technology's potential
to
cause interference to federal government users. The NTIA said the
Commission "must ensure that other communications services, especially
government operations, are adequately protected from unacceptable
interference."

An arm of the US Department of Commerce, the NTIA subsequently undertook
evaluations of BPL field test sites, in part to gauge the technology's
interference potential. The NTIA was supposed to conclude its field work
last month, and release its observations and conclusions during the
first
quarter of this year. The ARRL's own BPL study, which is assessing the
potential of interference both from and to BPL systems, also is set to
wrap up early this year.

Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce Michael Gallagher and NTIA head
Michael Gallagher told a December meeting of BPL proponent the Power
Line
Communications Association that the NTIA was "studying interference
risks
and potential means for making risks more tolerable." He indicated that
the first phase of NTIA's pending BPL study would recommend radiated
emission limits, compliance measurement procedures and other conditions
in
its report to the FCC.

At the FCC's February 12 open meeting, Powell pledged that the FCC would
continue to be vigilant in the area of BPL's interference potential. Anh
Wride of the OET staff, who provided the broad strokes of the pending
NPRM, said the FCC recognizes the concerns of licensed radio service
users
regarding BPL's interference potential. Wride said "licensed operations
must be protected," but added that the OET staff believes that "these
interference concerns can be adequately addressed."

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/02/20/101/?nc=1

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