Cottonwood, AZ (BPL)  is Gone!

Arizona BPL Field Trial Ends NEWINGTON, CT, Mar 28, 2006-- A BPL field trial in Cottonwood, Arizona, that drew complaints from Amateur Radio operators from 2004 until earlier this year apparently has shut down for good. The small system, which Mountain Telecommunications Inc (MTI) operated under FCC Part 5 Experimental license WD2XMB, went silent. For more from ARRL Go Here A Commentary - Broadband Over Powerline (BPL) may adversely affect Amateur Radio! Radio amateurs are not opposed to broadband services. On the contrary, they tend to be early adopters of new technology. However, there are other ways to deliver broadband that do not pollute the radio spectrum the way electric power lines do. These include:   fiber, cable, DSL, satellite, and wireless. The High Frequency Radio Spectrum is a unique natural resource that has been a primary source for communication since the 1912 Wireless Regulation, known as the Radio Act, was passed by the United States Congress.  This resource is used by aircraft, marine, telephony, broadcast radio, military, public safety health and welfare, fire and law enforcement, the federal government, and aeronautical radio navigation, especially during storms, earthquakes or other events that take out the normal communications.  An increase in BPL noise level would render many of these uses difficult or impossible ..... This would be environmental pollution of a natural resource! How to Report BPL Interference From: "Hare,Ed, W1RFI" Date: 11 Jun 2004, 08:07:44 AM Subject: Broadband over Powerline (BPL) Reporting BPL Interference It is essential that all interference to amateur radio be reported. This needs to be reported in the following ways: o To the utility, by email or in writing o To the 4 FCC people in the following URL o CC to w1rfi@arrl.org, as described Hams who believe they are having interference from a BPL system should carefully follow all of the steps in this document to report it to the involved utility company, BPL provider and to the FCC in a way that will help demonstrate the extent of BPL interference and will help the involved parties resolve it. It is important that BPL interference be correctly identified, because it is possible that other sources of noise could be misidentified as BPL. Those may be interference, too, but they would normally be reported and resolved somewhat differently than BPL. Please carefully look at this entire document and follow its steps carefully. o Identifying Interference as BPL o Draft BPL complaints o How to file a complaint about BPL o How to file your complaint to the FCC BPL rulemaking o FCC rules that apply to BPL GO HERE for more info on BPL:         Broadband Over Power Line (BPL) and Amateur Radio                   VVARA Home                                     Webmaster                 All Rights Reserved 2007 .....