FCC Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy. [FCC Photo]
FCC Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy. [FCC Photo] |
NEWINGTON, CT, Jan 23, 2004--In a seeming shift away from "Broadband Nirvana," FCC Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy this week specifically cited Amateur Radio concerns about the interference potential of Broadband Over Power Line (BPL). In remarks prepared for delivery at her alma mater, the Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law, Abernathy said BPL should not be widely deployed before dealing with ham radio's interference fears.
"I recognize that Amateur Radio licensees have raised concerns about harmful interference," Abernathy said, "and that is something that will have to be addressed before any mass market deployment can occur." She addressed the convocation "The Journey to Convergence: Challenges and Opportunities" January 22 on the school's Washington, DC campus.
Abernathy said that if engineers can find a way to prevent harmful interference to other radio services, BPL would represent "a tremendous advance for consumers, because it could bring broadband to any home that has electricity."
In her speech, "Overview of the Road to Convergence: New Realities Collide with Old Rules," Abernathy called BPL "another promising technology" that electric utilities have already successfully field tested. As an "add-on service to the existing electrical grid," she said, BPL might be a cost-effective alternative to provide broadband service to rural and other "underserved communities."
Missing from her remarks was any mention of interference worries that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) have expressed to the FCC in the BPL proceeding.
Abernathy drew fire from the Amateur Radio community last September after she expressed unabashed enthusiasm for BPL in a talk before the United Powerline Council's annual conference. In that talk, she'd suggested that BPL was a step along the pathway to "Broadband Nirvana."
The ARRL led the barrage of strong objections in the wake of Abernathy's characterization. ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, told Abernathy that technical showings submitted in response to the FCC's Notice of Inquiry in ET Docket No. 03-104 "clearly establish that BPL is a significant source of radio spectrum pollution" that "cannot be implemented without causing harmful interference to over-the-air radio services."
Abernathy's office later conceded that her "Broadband Nirvana" speech may have failed to make sufficiently clear the commissioner's concerns about potential BPL interference. Sumner called Abernathy's subsequent clarification "most welcome and reassuring news."
More than 5100 comments--many from the
Amateur Radio community--have been filed in response to the FCC's BPL NOI
and are available for viewing via the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS).
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