The Coalition of the Swilling

I'm an Amateur Radio Operator, licensed by the FCC. All complaints have to go to the FCC. Used to be, the FCC had monitoring stations all over the country, checking various frequencies for improper operations. The fines were (and still are) pretty stiff (up to $10K for an administrative fine).

But then the FCC dropped off their monitoring stations (I think there's maybe a handfull left), cut their staff, and for years refused to enforce laws or deal with many complaints. This changed recently, but the staff in that part of the FCC has never been restored to original levels. Things got better, but not a lot, and only because a few people started to care.

Recently, the FCC promoted an alternate to cable broadband or DSL: broadband over power lines (BPL). INTERNET access is multi-plexed on commercial powerlines for remote areas, or in competition to other modes. Since power lines are everywhere, theoretically every home can have INTERNET access simply by plugging a modem into any wall socket.

Problem is, BPL operates on many frequencies, and has a tendency to broadcast on multiple radio frequencies.....including ham frequencies, causing serious interference. By law, this is the responsibility of the BPL provider. This intereference can be reduced or eliminated by careful equipment design and installation. But the key root word is "care". Some of the deployed systems are good, some are not. It depends on the provider.

Now, the FCC literally rushed the approval for BPL technology through in near-record time. Concerns about interference (and anyone using a radio, ham or not, needs to worry about this) were largely ignored. When deployed, the FCC initiated a complaint system, essentially a "work with the provider, and if you can't fix the problem, then call the FCC". Multiple, genuine problems remain unresolved, although the FCC has helped with quite a few. Of course, the FCC didn't increase their staff for this either.

In short, I see more of the same if this bill passes. Joy.