Ham Radio Organization Challenges Manassas BPL Project

We reported recently about the rollout of a new Broadband Over Power Line (BPL) system in Manassas, Virginia. See our previous coverage at:

BPL Has Coming Out Party - Does Anyone Care? -- Ted Glanzer

Manassas Va. Launches City-Wide Broadband-Over-Powerline (BPL) -- Al Bredenberg

Yesterday the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) announced that it has called on the FCC to shut down the Manassas installation because the system is causing interference for ham radio operators in the area. See the ARRL's announcement at:

ARRL Calls on FCC to Shut Down Virginia BPL System

In a filing to the FCC, the ARRL maintains that:

"The Manassas system currently causes harmful interference, and it is not compliant with applicable FCC Part 15 regulations, including Section 15.5. Whatever actions either Manassas Power or Communication Technologies Inc [commercial operator of the BPL system] might have taken to relieve the problem have not been successful, and it persists to the present time. This is precisely the situation in which the system must be shut down, pending successful resolution of the severe interference."

Manassas radio amateur Donald Blasdell reported to the FCC that BPL interference in Manassas made it impossible for him to operate a special event station in Manassas. He wrote to the FCC's Enforcement Bureau: "I could not read the special event station because of the noise as I drove through the City of Manassas trying to find a spot that was conducive to making a contact. The noise levels ran from 10 dB+ to 40 dB+."

The ARRL has an article on its Web site explaining why BPL is a concern for amateur radio operators.

AB -- 10/14/05