The FCC released the text of its BPL order Thurs., and Bruce Roma...

14 Commission meeting. While the industry welcomed the thrust of the announcement, it still harbored apprehensions, saying the devil remained in the details. At a Power Line Communications Assn. (PLCA) conference in Alexandria, Va., Romano told utility executives “clouds” of uncertainty had been removed. He said BPL would continue to operate as an unlicensed device under Part 15 rules and emission limits would remain intact. The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) had lobbied heavily at the last minute for reducing the emission limits. Besides requirements for minimizing interference to amateur radio and certain exclusion zones and frequencies, the order sets new rules for certification of BPL equipment. Under the rules, Romano said, “certification has to be achieved at the FCC” before equipment is widely manufactured and distributed. In the short term, he said, the FCC will be in full control of the process. The rules will go into effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register in 2-3 weeks, he added. There will be an 18 month “transition period” for certification of equipment, unless there are interference problems, Romano said. BPL providers will have to coordinate with public safety and other federal agencies 45 days after the rules take effect. The BPL public database, listing the operator, location, frequencies used and contacts, will have to be set up within 180 days, he said. One of the remaining concerns with BPL is use of high frequencies (HF), said Tom Sullivan, chief of NTIA Spectrum Engineering Branch. HF is a very important part of the spectrum for radio users, he added, so there’s reluctance to adopt BPL widely in Europe. He said unlike the FCC, Europe doesn’t have a track record of working with unlicensed devices or counterparts to the Commission’s Part 15 rules. The U.S., which ranks 11th in broadband deployment worldwide, has a lot of pent-up demand, unlike many Asian countries, Sullivan said. Pointing out that federal regulators have widely supported BPL, he said he wouldn’t be surprised if some states required utilities to roll out BPL. PLCA Pres. Alan Shark said 2005 would be a “pivotal year” for BPL, with a lot of utilities moving from trials to commercial deployments. He said lack of standards is a challenge for the industry. The order is available at www.fcc.gov.