NARUC announced a 6-member task force to explore the potential fo...
NARUC announced a 6-member task force to explore the potential for broadband over power lines (BPL) and the role of state regulators in advancing that technology. The work of the task force would complement the BPL investigations of the…
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FCC and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), NARUC Pres. Stan Wise said. Mich. PSC Comr. Laura Chappelle, who will head the task force, told us the commissioners would be looking at a broad range of issues that would help regulators understand “what role, if any, legislators should play in the emergent technology.” To begin with, regulators wanted a better understanding of the current status of the technology, its potential uses, potential timetable for its rollout and how widespread it would be, she said. Only then would the task force get into the policy considerations such as the potential for improper cross-subsidization, universal service, the role of regulators when utilities use their physical assets and BPL’s real advantages to the underserved communities. Chappelle said that although several companies had begun pilot BPL programs, they weren’t widespread and results weren’t “apparent.” That probably was because companies were keeping quiet for competitive reasons, she said, or it was just that the technology was only now emerging: “I think they are at the real infancy stage.” Unlike voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP), which was “booming a lot faster,” things with electricity move a little slowly, she said. And unlike BPL, there weren’t any known security concerns with VoIP, she said, although there were a lot of policy concerns. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had expressed concerns about interference to govt. communications from unlicensed BPL systems, she said, but it was just a concern: “I think it’s just ensuring that the high-frequency radio, especially in the context that FEMA uses, would be protected.” That’s something that state regulators would want to ensure and in order to do that “we would have to ask a lot of questions and do a lot of research to find out if there is a potential for interference and, if so, what does that involve and is there something that can be readily fixed through industry’s putting protective measures in place.” Although the task force wasn’t operating under a time frame, Chappelle said it would give NARUC some initial feedback so as to involve more regulators and govt. agencies in the deliberations.