ARRLWeb: The ARRL Letter

ARRLWeb: The ARRL Letter

"ARRL CALLS ON FCC TO SHUT DOWN VIRGINIA BPL SYSTEM

In support of Amateur Radio complaints of interference, the ARRL this week
formally asked the FCC to instruct the City of Manassas, Virginia, to shut
down its broadband over power line (BPL) system. Communication Technologies
(COMTek) operates the BPL system over the municipally owned electric power
grid.

The League says the facility has been the target of interference
complaints, none of which has resulted 'in any action or even interest' on
the part of the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) staff. In
the meantime, the ARRL says, interference to local Amateur Radio stations
continues."

The FCC adopted new Part 15 rules to govern BPL deployment a year ago this
week. Manassas earlier this month formally inaugurated its citywide
deployment of the high-speed Internet BPL system, which it touts as "the
first large-scale commercial BPL deployment in North America." The city
receives a portion of BPL subscriber revenues to offset its costs of
installing and maintaining the system.

A copy of the League's filing to the FCC is available on the ARRL Web site
pdf>

Additional information about BPL and Amateur Radio is on the ARRL Web site


To support the League's efforts in this area, visit the ARRL's secure BPL
Web site <https://www.arrl.org/forms/development/donations/bpl/>


73 fer nw,
Bob N5IET

10X# 37210, FP#-1141, SMIRK#-5177
http://www.n5iet.com/
Code may be taking a back seat for now,
but the pioneering spirit that put the code
there in the first place is out front of it all.