The FCC need not and should not prescribe industry standards for ...

The FCC need not and should not prescribe industry standards for broadband-over-power-line (BPL) systems relating to bands of operation, injection methods and modulation schemes, because such standards would discourage innovation, the United Power Line Council (UPLC) said. In reply comments to the Commission’s BPL inquiry, the UPLC said it would be premature to adopt industry standards since the technology still was nascent. Many technology companies have expressed interest in collaborating with the FCC in developing a standard, it said, and the UPLC would join those efforts “recognizing that industry-led standards are more likely to achieve the goal of reducing regulatory burdens and promoting consistency and repeatability of test measurements.” It said the Commission should continue to rely on radiated emission as the primary means of preventing interference. Licensees in the bands used by BPL systems uniformly have opposed allowing any operations in those bands or have demanded “notching” (reducing the emission limits), the UPLC said. Although notching was effective, it wasn’t appropriate, it said, because “it inevitably leads to a free- for-all” that would prevent BPL operation on any band or reduce power output to the point that it couldn’t compete with other broadband services in either cost or throughput. It also would set a negative precedent if licensees succeeded in stonewalling BPL systems, which were unintentional radiators. Part 15 rules adequately protect licensees in the bands of BPL operations, it said. The UPLC also cautioned the FCC against taking the “bait” of other broadband providers seeking to delay the deployment of BPL while they consolidate their market. BPL systems have been tested exhaustively in the lab and in field trials and have shown they didn’t cause any interference to colocated telephone or cable TV equipment, it said. NPR said it was concerned that radio frequency (RF) energy introduced by BPL systems could be carried through the electrical wiring to other devices, including millions of clock, table and other radios through which listeners get news, information and cultural services. Besides, it was unclear which spectrum the FCC would allocate for BPL systems, the public broadcaster said, although it had granted experimental BPL applications from 1.7 MHz to 80 MHz. FM radio occupies the 87.9-107.9 MHz spectrum, it said, and depending on the spectrum employed, BPL systems could produce “harmonic distortions and otherwise radiate energy in ways that could impair the reception of FM radio services.” NPR said the American Radio Relay League had contended that BPL posed “a significant threat” to amateur radio operations and broadcasting in the HF and low-VHF region. Cingular Wireless said the FCC, before proceeding further, should be presented with test results assessing the potential increase to the overall noise floor for 800 MHz and 1.9 MHz systems from BPL operations at or above 80 MHz. If the test results demonstrate there’s no threat of harmful interference to incumbent systems, then the Commission could start a rulemaking to focus on specific proposals, it said. Supporting the agency’s efforts to promote competition through the development of an additional broadband platform, AT&T opposed what it called the “disingenuous” claims by Qwest and Verizon that the advent of BPL justifies the immediate deregulation of the Bells’ broadband services. BPL services wouldn’t be ready until 2006 at the earliest, the company said.