FCC Maintains Its BPL Rules With Only Minor Changes
The FCC kept its Oct. 2004 BPL rules largely intact as it voted on petitions for reconsideration Thurs. But late Wed. the Commission pulled from its agenda an order on classifying BPL as an interstate information service. Chmn. Martin told reporters there was no hold-up and all commissioners supported the order. It could be adopted in circulation, he added. Industry sources said the order was withdrawn because the text wasn’t finished.
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Under a reconsideration order adopted unanimously, the agency rejected American Radio Relay League demands that BPL operations be barred pending further study of interference and that they be kept off frequencies used for amateur radio. It also denied MSTV’s request to confine BPL operations within 50 MHz. ARRL didn’t comment by our deadline, but the league’s Gen. Counsel Chris Imlay told us last week that if “there isn’t any accommodation for the interference [to ham radio] that’s well established to be out there, then certainly we are going to have to examine the judicial appeal.”
Though maintaining its July 7 equipment certification deadline, the Commission granted a one-year extension for BPL operators to use uncertified BPL equipment already in inventory to replace defective units or to supplement equipment on existing systems. The industry had asked for an 18-month extension for deployment of any uncertified equipment bought before the deadline. The Commission denied an industry request to get rid of the 30-day advance notice that operators must put in a public database about new BPL deployments. The industry had said such advance notice would put BPL operators at a disadvantage against cable and DSL competitors.
The Commission granted an NTIA request for a new exclusion zone for protection of astronomy stations and changed its rules to allow continued protection for aeronautical stations that are relocated. “We are happy the FCC affirmed the basic rules under which BPL will be deployed which will encourage BPL deployments,” said Brett Kilbourne, regulatory dir. of the United Power Line Council: “Regulatory certainty is something the industry needs and the FCC has provided that by affirming the rules.” Asked if the FCC action would result in increased deployments, Kilbourne said there were a “lot of moving pieces” to utilities’ embrace of BPL and “it’s not just all about regulatory [certainty]. But it “certainly can’t hurt,” he added.
Comr. Copps praised the “valuable” services of amateur operators in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and said the Commission should be “always mindful” of their needs. But the order struck an “acceptable balance” between protecting existing spectrum users and encouraging BPL deployment, he said. But unforseen interference could occur, he said, and the Commission should be prepared to act with “alacrity” when interference complaints are raised. BPL holds great promise as an alternative to cable, DSL, fiber and wireless broadband services, said Martin. It also has “unique” advantages for home networking, he added.