SB QST @ ARL $ARLB031
ARLB031 FCC Now Accepting Comments in "Broadband Over Power Line" Inquiry

ZCZC AG31
QST de W1AW
ARRL Bulletin 31  ARLB031
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT  April 30, 2003
To all radio amateurs

SB QST ARL ARLB031
ARLB031 FCC Now Accepting Comments in ''Broadband Over Power Line''Inquiry

The FCC released its Notice of Inquiry (NOI) on the deployment of
''Broadband over Power Line'' (BPL) technology on April 28 and now is
accepting comments. A form of carrier-current communication better
known as power line carrier (PLC), the technology has raised
concerns of substantial interference to the Amateur Radio HF bands.

BPL would couple high-frequency RF to parts of the power grid and
use existing power lines as the transmission medium to deliver
broadband and Internet access. In the NOI, the FCC acknowledges the
interference risk from BPL.

ARRL Lab Manager and RFI guru Ed Hare, W1RFI, has cautioned that
deployment of BPL could affect every amateur in communities where
it's employed with a significant increase in noise levels. More
information is on the Web at www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/.

The complete NOI is available on the FCC Web site. The FCC now is
accepting electronically filed comments via its Electronic Comment
Filing System ECFS Express page. To initiate a comment, click next
to ''Broadband over the traditional telephone network.''
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