The FCC this week made some upgrades to its rules for Access Broadband over Power Line systems while maintaining safeguards against harmful interference to existing radio services.
If harmful interference does occur--to amateur radio spectrum or other operations, for example--the commission said it would "take appropriate action to remedy the situation."
The commission turned down a request by the ham community to prohibit BPL operations pending further study and to exclude BPL from frequencies used for amateur radio operations.
Thursday's changes were adopted in response to a number of petitions for reconsideration of the BPL rules established in 2004. The FCC reemphasized that the Part 15 rule changes were made to ensure that BPL operations do not become a source of interference to licensed services.
Specifically, it affirmed its rule regarding BPL emission limits and said reducing emissions to 20 dB below the normal Part 15 limits will provide adequate interference protection for mobile operations.
The commission turned down a request by television broadcasters to exclude BPL from frequencies above 50 MHz.
It said information regarding BPL deployment must be provided in a public database at least 30 days before deployment and that BPL equipment must be certified.
The agency denied a request by the aeronautical industry to exclude BPL operating on low-voltage lines from frequencies reserved for certain aeronautical operations.
(Radio World)
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