FCC Expected to Classify Commercial BPL As Information Service
The FCC is expected to designate BPL an information service like DSL and cable at its open meeting Fri., industry officials said. With the Commission issuing final BPL rules in Aug. (CD Aug 4 p2), BPL classification was the last federal issue for the industry, they said. The FCC’s rules have been appealed by the American Radio Relay League in federal court. The Commission pulled the classification item on the eve of its Aug. open meeting, but Chmn. Martin clarified to reporters there was no hold-up and all the commissioners support it.
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Recent meetings with commissioners aides’ showed there’s no issue with the classification order, said Brett Kilbourne, regulatory dir. of the United Power Line Council (UPLC), which had sought a declaratory ruling on the issue. The FCC decision will clarify that BPL-delivered broadband service will be treated like cable and DSL, said Jay Birnbaum, gen. counsel of Current Communications. There were no significant objections to the industry petition in comments filed with the FCC, he said. Saying he saw no hitch in the FCC’s granting the industry request, telecom lawyer Mitchell Lazarus said that when the FCC adopted BPL rules it touted the technology as a 3rd wire into the home after cable and DSL. “It will not be consistent that vision to now regulate BPL differently from those 2,” he said.
Kilbourne said the FCC decision was important for the industry because it will “create a level playing field” and remove any existing doubts in risk-averse utilities. State regulatory issues will grow in importance, he said, “but we wanted to try and tackle this one last issue the FCC was focusing on.” The classification won’t apply to BPL deployments for utilities’ internal uses, he said, but it will be an incentive for large scale commercial deployments like the one announced by TXU in Tex. If BPL is used to provide electric service, the state PUCs would presumably have jurisdiction over that aspect of the service, said Birnbaum. He said he didn’t see the classification as greatly affecting utility decision to embrace BPL. “I am not even sure utilities are even aware that this is out there.”
Meanwhile, 2 groups working on BPL standards for emission measurements and hardware and installation have drafted standards, said Kilbourne, who heads the IEEE BPL Study Group. But a key standard-setting group on coexistence and interoperability is facing delays, he said. Makers of DS-2, HomePlug and other entrenched technologies are angling for maximum advantage as the group reaches the “requirements” stage, said Current Technologies Vp Jim Mollenkopf, who recently resigned as co-chmn. of the group. At the last meeting of the coexistence group, there was “some wrangling” over whether a proposal should be voted out, said Kilbourne, and “they threw a monkey wrench into that thing.” The group, whose goal is getting out standards before 2008, is trying to reach the target by accelerating the frequency of its meetings, he said, but “I don’t know if they got a resolution yet.” But there’s no suggestion from group members that the publication date needs to be pushed back, he added.
The group on emissions has drafted guidelines that will supplement the FCC rules and also help other countries formulate their own regulations, Kilbourne added. The guidelines will help ensure that emission measurements are consistent and repeatable, he said. The hardware group is dealing with issue like safety and attachments to telephone poles and power lines, Kilbourne said.