This is cut'n'pasted from an
e-mail called "BPL Today"-"Chronicling the Creation of
the Broadband over Power Lines industry"... "BPL Today is written by seasoned experts
giving you their analysis on what the news means with cutting commentary on the
twists, plans, failures, strategies, shocks, absurdities, new sales and buying
methods -- as energy and communications converge into America's largest
industry."
FCC makes BPL rule final
---
FERC makes unprecedented
appearance at FCC meeting
BPL is official.
FCC today made final its amendments to Part 15 to
regulate access BPL (as compared with the in home network version) setting
limits on frequencies and putting in place methods for handling interference
with radio users.
Fast turnaround on the rulemaking was meant to
quickly create the regulatory clarity the fledgling industry needs to win
investment and catch hold.
To that end, the commission created "a
minimal regulatory framework for BPL," to advance Congress' goal of
keeping the rules pro competitive and FCC's goal of getting broadband to every
American, said Chairman Michael Powell.
FERC Chairman Pat Wood was at the meeting with
FERC Commissioners Nora Brownell and Suedeen Kelly an unprecedented appearance
and cooperation between commissions that's symbolic of the two worlds that BPL
bridges and the vital roles the new technology can play in each.
Having a smart grid one with broadband present
throughout will help power systems operate more efficiently and reliably, said
Wood.
He called Brownell FERC's tech guru and added
that she and FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy had talked about
"synergies" between the two commissions relating to BPL.
BPL's security benefits and added "real
reliability" more than offset the cost of the upgrade, noted Brownell, and
offer broadband revenue at no extra charge.
The FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology
(OET) did extensive research and worked closely with the National
Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) to make sure the
rules answered the latter's concerns, said Powell.
Wood and Brownell joined Powell Tuesday at the Manassas, Va
BPL deployment to witness the technology in action.
They chatted with one of the residents who was
amazed at the easy installation just like plugging in any appliance, he said
several times and Powell made a free VOIP call on the resident's phone.
Powell and Wood released a joint statement that
listed the benefits of broadband in economic, educational, social, medical and
cultural welfare to the country.
The benefit of adding BPL as a broadband
competitor could be seen in how Comcast reacted to the BPL roll out by COMTek
in Manassas. It
dropped its price considerably, noted Powell during the meeting.
The final wording of the rule wasn't released but
OET's Bruce Franca told BPL Today that 99.9% of the wording has been approved
and the commissioners just need to sign off on a few minor changes before the
rule's released.
UPLC's Brett Kilbourne was encouraged by the rule
and expects the final wording to be a workable compromise.
Kilbourne is UPLC's director of regulatory
services and associate counsel. The final version refers to bands of exclusion
frequencies that BPL equipment has to avoid, he noted.
An important change from the proposed version is
having equipment makers get FCC certification for each BPL device and
recertification if the design of a device changes.
To date BPL makers had to have test results on
file showing compliance with FCC interference limits.
The new rules have an administrative procedure
for getting certification plus a transition period so that equipment in the
field can keep operating while it gets certified, noted Franca at a press briefing after the meeting.
The new rule makes Part 15 "more
conservative" to address interference issues, Franca added.
When interference occurs it's often with amateur
radio operators who have charged in many FCC filings that notching doesn't work
and that even the slightest interference can make it impossible for them to
have conversations over very faint signals with other users around the world.
The commission will use a reasonable definition
of what's "harmful," noted Franca.
The rule includes a call for an industry
maintained database of BPL deployments to guide those who get interference to
possible sources nearby for quick resolution.
In cases where interference isn't resolved, the
commission is prepared to act quickly according to the new rules.
One source of concern is state notification, UTC
CEO Bill Moroney told BPL Today, requiring utilities to notify the state PUC
before deploying BPL.
He's holding judgment until the final wording is
released.
If notification is made public, he would expect
cable and DSL competitors to change their marketing strategies in the target
area before the BPL could even be deployed.
Those two technologies don't have to report their
own movements and creating a competitive disadvantage for BPL would be
counterproductive, he added.
Watch for Monday's issue of BPL Today for the
rest of our interview with Moroney plus reactions from industry leaders, much
more detail on the final rule and much more about the historic trip to Manassas.
Here's a tid
bit: Manassas plans to make its traffic stoplights IP enabled
and, in tandem with IP enabled surveillance cameras at intersections monitor
traffic flows and manage them by tweaking the traffic light patterns. That's
just one of countless innovations expected once the power wires carry IP.