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AMATEUR RADIO ENTHUSIASTS COME OUT SWINGING IN OPPOSITION TO NPRM ON BPL
INTERFERENCE ISSUES

Amateur radio enthusiasts are submitting copious comments that are
flooding the docket for the FCC's notice of proposed rulemaking on
broadband-over-powerline technologies. The comments are coming
well in advance of a May 3 due date.

"From what I've seen, BPL will wipe out the [high frequency] and
some [very high frequency] bands," said one typical filing. "It's been
rejected in other places and should not be allowed in the United
States.
In an emergency, government and communities are loosely held
together by using these bands with emergency communications. Don't
let Big Money outweigh the good of our country."

Sources say the FCC has been respectful of amateur radio concerns but
also has recognized that they may not reflect real problems. "The FCC
has determined that the end-of-the-world interference scenarios put
forward by some in the amateur community are unrealistic," said
Mitchell Lazarus, a lawyer who represents BPL service provider
Current Technologies. "The NPRM is a good beginning of the process
of finding a fair balance between the needs of broadband users and
users of the radio spectrum."

Last month when the FCC approved the NPRM, Commissioner
Jonathan S. Adelstein said, "While we must be mindful of harmful
interference, we cannot let unsupported claims stand in the way of
such an innovation as BPL systems."

The FCC approved the NPRM on Feb. 12 and released it 11 days later,
but it was not published in the Federal Register until today, starting
a 45-day clock for comments. Reply comments are due 30 days later. -
Howard Buskirk,


http://www.tr.com/online/trd/2004/td031704/index.htm