BPL gets another nod
The movement to open another Internet pipe using signals carried to homes and businesses via electric power lines has just picked up an important endorsement from a task force of regulatory officials. Get ready. BPL looks like a done deal. Internet via power lines receives jolt of support
February 20th, 2005 at 7:39 pm
My excitement regarding BPL becomes somewhat tempered when I realize that Detroit Edison would need to play a key roll in it’s implementation in the Detroit area. Taking that into consideration, we’ll probably see Project Lightspeed or U-verse (or whatever they’re calling it today) from SBC prior to seeing BPL and I’m certainly not holding my breath regarding SBC’s next generation offering happening in the intermediate future.
Amateur radio operators were previously some of the most vocal opponents of BPL due to the potential of interfence radiating from the power lines. Has that issue been clarified or is it a case of the FCC speaking louder than the detractors?
February 21st, 2005 at 12:43 am
No. The matter of radio interference has not been dealt with properly. The debate was walked over quite quickly with the radio community being left out in the cold again by a blind-sided FCC that is making some poor decisions. The prospect of one or more niche players in a growing market competing for the next 20-30 percent of broadband penetration growth must be much to strong for the FCC to consider the rest of the users of the already packed airwaves.
I only hope that the FCC will find a way to redeem themselves and clean up the mess they created. New leadership and a greater understanding of where IT/Com needs to expand and where it doesn’t are two things that the FCC dearly needs. Why would the FCC let one form of communication disrupt and walk all over another? Wasn’t the FCC created to prevent this kind of thing? Are they that out of touch with the radio community? It would seem they think the radio community is dead or dying and not worthy of representation. The radio people have always felt the air waves were free. The FCC does not see it that way. They decide what is available and what is not. Free use of the space is becoming a thing of the past very quickly as new technologies vie for the few areas that are not already used. The general consensus is to design now and fight for the paid use of the space later. It apparently doesn’t matter who was using it previously.
Don’t worry. The FCC will make it all better.