Update: FCC seeks comment on power line broadband

WASHINGTON -- Hailing the step as a "monumental moment," the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted Wednesday to solicit public comment on broadband Internet service delivered over ordinary electric power lines, a step that could create widespread competition for cable modem and DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) services.

The commission voted 5-0 to approve a Notice of Inquiry that would look into several aspects of broadband over power line, known as BPL at the FCC, including whether power line broadband could interfere with existing radio frequency spectrum devices. The inquiry will also look for appropriate measurement procedures for testing emissions, which is what the FCC calls interference, and whether changes are needed in existing FCC technical rules to foster the development of BPL.

Commissioners championed BPL as a technology that could help drive down broadband prices by providing a third broadband choice for U.S. residents, beyond cable modem and DSL service. Because of the near ubiquity of power lines, BPL could also bring broadband services to rural areas that may not have other broadband options, commissioners said.

"We could be making some history hear this morning," said commissioner Michael Copps. "Just catching a glimpse of what this could mean in terms of the great broadband infrastructure challenge of the 21st century is exciting."

Companies such as Amperion and Current Technologies are already planning to roll out limited BPL services by later this year, and they are allowed to do so as long as they stay within current FCC rules on unlicensed radio frequency emissions.

But because new digital power line designs use a large frequency range, unlike most radio frequency devices, the FCC inquiry will look into whether BPL services could interfere with everything from garage door openers to police radios, said Joseph Cufari, vice president of business development for Current Technologies, based in Germantown, Md. Current Technologies is testing power line broadband in Maryland and Ohio, and other companies are conducting tests in several other states.

The current FCC rules, last revised in October 2001, don't provide for an accurate way to measure BPL emissions, Cufari said, because they weren't written with power line broadband in mind. "It was never thought of," he added.

The inquiry may not dig up any emission problems, said Ed Thomas, chief engineer in the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology, and he declined to guess who might raise objections about interference. "I don't want to prejudge that," he said to reporters after the commission meeting. "Our question is not to say there is interference, it's to find out if there is interference. If anybody has concerns, we want to give them the opportunity to voice those concerns."

A representative from the US Internet Industry Association didn't return phone calls seeking comment on power line broadband, but Larry Plumb, spokesman for DSL provider Verizon Communications, said the company wasn't particularly concerned about competition from power companies.

"It's an already competitive market," Plumb said. "This shows regulators why it's important to let supply and demand in the market do their thing."