The US National Telecommunications and Information Administration has released its report on Broadband over Powerlines (BPL). The report comes out in favour of the position adopted by the international broadcasters and the North American Shortwave Association, representing shortwave listeners. The report says:
“HF radio is a very practical means of communicating directly with the people of other nations because of the extensive availability of inexpensive broadcast receivers. The BBG’s global radio network, the Voice of America (VOA), consists primarily of two powerful HF transmitter sites (located in California and Virginia). [sic. The Greenville site is actually in North Carolina, not Virginia].
“While the intended receivers of the VOA’s transmissions generally are abroad there are numerous broadcasting receivers owned and operated by foreign citizens and government personnel in the United States that could be susceptible to BPL interference because of proximity to power lines. Protecting other administrations’ broadcasting is critical because of reciprocity. The current ITU-R B-03, Seasonal Broadcasting Schedule, shows multiple administrations broadcasting to the United States for every timeframe within a 24-hour period.”
Thanks to Joe Buch and Rich Cuff for drawing our attention to this.
You can read the full NTIA report here
NASWA’s comments on Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
on Apr 29th, 2004 at 10:11
A surprising but very welcome intervention
on Apr 29th, 2004 at 10:25
Welcome, yes. Surprising? Not really, as I always suspected that the interests of the Broadcasting Board of Governors would in the end carry a lot of weight. The US realises that if it rides roughshod over the rights of stations such as Radio Netherlands to broadcast clearly into the US, it will have no leverage to complain about any form of deliberate or avoidable interference to its own broadcasts, on which the Bush administration places so much importance. Personally, I was expectin this argument to be put forward, and I’m glad it has been given such weight by the NTIA.