Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Ham operators dread power-line Web access

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 05 Mar 2004 10:02:43 -0500

Friday, March 5, 2004

Ham operators dread power-line Web access

By Mike Boyer
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cinergy Corp.'s launch next
week of high-speed Internet
service delivered over power
lines has ham radio operators
fearful of possible radio
interference.

The utility, which is teaming
with Current Communications
Group in a joint venture to
launch the service in
Cincinnati, said amateur radio
operators' concerns are
unfounded.

"There's a lot of misinformation out there," said Alex Pardo of Cinergy,
which is teaming with Germantown, Md.-based Current in the rollout of
technology known as broadband over power lines.

The technology allows subscribers to plug a special computer modem into
any electrical outlet and receive data and voice services at speeds
equal to or better than competing broadband services.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell has championed
the technology, saying it could increase availability and lower the cost
of broadband.

The Newington, Conn.-based American Radio Relay League, a national
association of ham radio operators, last July told the FCC the
technology "is a Pandora's Box of unprecedented proportions'' citing
what it called "severe interference potential from BPL (broadband over
power lines)."

Current Communications said it would begin deploying the service next
week in the Hyde Park-Mount Lookout area.
Fairfield ham operator Joe Phillips, Ohio section manager for the ham
association, conceded the issue may seem like a "snoozer for everybody"
but ham operators.

But, he said, ham operators, including about 7,500 in Southwest Ohio,
are concerned that interference from increased radio waves along
unshielded power lines could interfere with all types of radio
transmissions, such as emergency agencies, the National Weather Service
and other public and private entities.

Said Pardo, "We know some providers of the technology have created
interference with amateur radio transmissions, but Current's technology
isn't one of them."

Jay Birnbaum, vice president and general counsel for Current, said the
radio interference emitted from power lines with Current's technology is
no more than that from personal computers, DVD players and other
electronic devices in homes.
"We're talking about emissions that are just a billionth of a watt," he
said, that can't be measured within about 30 feet of a power line.

Current has adopted the so-called home-plug technical standard, which
includes a filtering process called "notching" to eliminate
interference.

The FCC has said it was aware of concerns about possible interference.

"After careful consideration, however, we believe that these
interference concerns can be adequately addressed."
Ed Thomas, chief of FCC's engineering and technology office, said
proposed rules would require the power-line equipment to have the
ability to mitigate harmful interference by shifting frequencies.

A grassroots group of 710,000 licensees nationally, the ham radio
operators have traditionally been vocal about protecting their
radio-frequency turf.

Thomas noted in an earlier FCC comment period on rules for the new
technology that more than 5,000 comments were received, many from
individual ham operators around the country.

"Everybody's concerned about interference to licensed operators," he
said. "But our job is to do what's in the public interest to enable new
technology while protecting the rights of ham operators."

Ham operators cited comments last year to the FCC from the chief
information officer of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Barry
West, who said interference from BPL technology could interrupt FEMA
radio systems.
But in a Jan. 8 letter, acting FEMA director Michael Brown said the
agency had "not concluded that there is a material interference
problem."

Phillips said operators worry that widespread use of the technology
could turn power lines into large antennas emitting interference over
wide areas.

The FCC disagrees.

"In general, we believe that a properly designed and operated BPL system
will pose little interference hazard," a spokesman said.

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/03/05/biz_cinergy05.html

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