In the March 24 RF Design Bulletin, an e-newsletter of RF Design magazine, I reported a market study on broadband over powerline (BPL) communications conducted by Telecom Trends International, a Falls Church, Va.-based research firm. The BPL market projection and comments from the findings were reported in the bulletin. Of course, the report was one sided because it did not include views and comments of the opposition. In this case, amateur radio operators and ARRL members. The result was a barrage of letters to the editor, all criticizing the editor and the magazine for running such stories and promoting BPL.

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But, we are here to disseminate information on new technologies as they evolve. The readers must be informed of the pros and cons of new technology. According to ARRL, BPL is a nuisance to amateur radio operators and ARRL has been complaining for months about interference. Now, ARRL is calling on the FCC to shut down the first BPL service launched in the city of Manassas, Va. this month. It is the first city-wide commercial deployment of BPL technology anywhere in the United States, according to Communication Technologies Inc. (COMTek), the Chantilly, Va.-based company that owns and operates the BPL network in Manassas. The company will serve as the Internet service provider and will provide e-mail and Web hosting services.

As per the ARRL release, the facility has been the source of unresolved interference complaints dating back to early 2004, none of which has resulted “in any action or even interest” on the part of the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) staff. In the meantime, interference to local amateur radio stations continues.

“The Manassas system currently causes harmful interference, and it is not compliant with applicable FCC Part 15 regulations,” the ARRL said in a 16-page filing to the OET and the FCC's Enforcement Bureau. “Whatever actions either Manassas Power or Communication Technologies Inc. might have taken to relieve the problem, they have not been successful, and it persists to the present time. This is precisely the situation the FCC discussed last October in which the system must be shut down, pending successful resolution of the severe interference.”

Meanwhile, COMTek is committed to expanding such services to several other investor-owned utilities, municipal-owned utilities, and other entities around the country. Similar efforts are also in progress in Europe, where the European Commission is making efforts to resolve any issues and open the market to potentially cut the cost of broadband delivery. In fact, dozens of trials are currently under way on all continents

Let's face the fact. Like any new technology, BPL is also going through ups and downs. And it will continue to evolve. Instead of shunning it altogether as a no-good broadband solution, it is time to sit down and look at ways to alleviate the problem. I am sure there are frequency ranges, modulation techniques, power levels, shielding technologies and other methodologies that can be developed to address the interference problem. Just as the innovators have created this broadband technology, I am sure they will also find a solution to eliminate this problem.

It's time to look at this problem more closely and work toward standardizing the BPL technology and service that is interference free. Right now, there is no standard and each operator offers a proprietary technology. Interestingly, at the last Intel Developers Forum, the HomePlug Powerline Alliance announced that it is strengthening its focus on worldwide implementation of HomePlug standards. Toward that end, the alliance is working on a BPL specification based on the established HomePlug AV specifications. It also has created the promoters group to address the HomePlug BPL standards efforts. Hopefully, this group will ensure that the new standard is interference free.