BPL service moves forward in Manassas, Va.
Interference with ham radio signals has been stopped
News Story by Matt Hamblen
APRIL 07, 2006 (COMPUTERWORLD) - A broadband-over-power-line (BPL) network is growing in Manassas, Va., and should reach 1,000 customers by early summer, the BPL service provider said today.
Communication Technologies Inc. (COMTek), in Chantilly, Va., said it has about 600 homes and small businesses already using the service. Home-based BPL service costs $28.95 a month ($39.95 a month for a businesses) and offers up to 3.5 Mbit/sec. download speeds.
The emerging technology faced opposition from an amateur radio user in Manassas who filed a complaint with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission about interference from the BPL network.
However, COMTek filed a response with the FCC yesterday citing an independent testing lab’s findings that no interference could be found on certain ham radio frequencies that could be attributed to BPL.
COMTek said it had “notched” all of its 600 BPL devices in mid-January to prevent interference, meaning it turned off the ability of the BPL devices to use certain frequencies preferred by amateur radio users.
COMTek also said today that it plans to upgrade all of its devices --as well as new ones coming online -- to second-generation technology that will further reduce the possibility of interference.
BPL operates via a radio signal sent along a power line.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
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ReplyDeleteMajor Upgrade Coming to Manassas, Va., Broadband Over Powerline System
Apr 07, 2006 By News Staff
Communication Technologies Inc. (COMTek) announced today that it will upgrade all of its 600 overhead broadband over powerline (BPL) devices in Manassas, Va., to the latest Mainnet second generation "G2" technology in order to further enhance the broadband services it is delivering to a rapidly growing number of residential and commercial customers in this outlying Washington, D.C., suburb.
COMTek filed a report on the Manassas system with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in which the company reported that an independent FCC-certified testing laboratory could find no interference attributable to BPL in the specific ham radio frequencies covered in a recent FCC filing made by an amateur radio enthusiast. The laboratory conducted rigorous FCC-mandated testing, including "on/off testing" to show the level of interference with BPL in operation and with BPL turned off. An almost identical level of interference was found in the ham radio bands covered in the complaint to the FCC, regardless of whether or not the BPL equipment was in operation. This means that, while ham radio operators may have detected the interference reported to the FCC, it does not appear to arise from COMTek's BPL operations.
COMTek Vice President Walt Adams said: "The COMTek decision to upgrade its overhead BPL equipment in Manassas reflects our longstanding commitment to provide the best available hardware and services for our rapidly growing customer base. BPL in Manassas is a real success story that shows that the 'first wire' to homes is a viable means of delivering affordable broadband to homes and businesses that otherwise face limited alternatives and unnecessarily high prices."
In its FCC filing, COMTek said that it will continue with other testing in the coming months, including other ham radio frequencies.
The COMTek network in Manassas, said the company in a release, is the first commercial deployment of BPL in the nation to use a city-wide electricity grid to provide individual homes and businesses with direct "plug in" broadband access through electric sockets, rather than over phone or cable TV lines.
As of mid-January, COMTek had completed 100 percent notching of all BPL devices (internal and external to customer premises) in the overhead areas of Manassas and is now engaged in ongoing monitoring of the BPL network. A total of 590 BPL-related devices in Manassas were notched by COMTek in order to address any potential interference issues.