February 2008 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

[arrl-odv:16484] Re: Followup NTIA Inflated Figure Story
by Bob Vallio 07 Feb '08

07 Feb '08

Way to go, Dave! Thank you. 73, Bob -- W6RGG On Feb 6, 2008 9:18 AM, Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ <dsumner(a)arrl.org> wrote: > This is going on the Web momentarily and into this week's ARRL Letter. > > Dave > > *"Source" Disavows Inflated NTIA BPL Figure* > > The National Telecommunications and Information Administration report > "Networked Nation: Broadband in America 2007" that was released on January > 31, 2008 includes the following: > > Reliable BPL [broadband over power lines] subscribership figures are > difficult to find. The FCC's most recent data identify fewer than 5,000 BPL > customers as of yearend 2006. That figure appears low, however. TIA [The > Telecommunications Industry Association] estimates 200,000 current BPL > subscribers… > > Five years of experience in dealing with BPL systems as a radio > interference source have given the ARRL, the national association for > Amateur Radio, considerable insight into the BPL industry. Based on that > experience, the ARRL has concluded that the FCC's figure of fewer than 5,000 > BPL customers is entirely credible. Therefore, the ARRL set out to determine > the source of the "estimate" of 200,000 current BPL subscribers. > > We contacted TIA and were advised that the figure came from a market study > prepared by Wilkofsky Gruen Associates Inc. (*www.wilkofskygruen.com*<http://www.wilkofskygruen.com>) > and based on research conducted by In-Stat (*www.instat.com*<http://www.instat.com>), > a unit of Reed Business Information. > > So, we contacted In-Stat and asked how the figure was derived. They > responded: "The 200,000 number for BPL subs did not come from In-Stat. In > our US broadband forecast, we estimate about 231,000 broadband subscribers > in the "other" category besides DSL, cable, satellite. Other includes BPL, > but is not solely BPL." > > We then contacted Wilkofsky Gruen Associates. They responded, "Our source > for the BPL figures was In-Stat." When In-Stat's denial was shared with them > they responded, "It was our understanding that BPL was the principal > component as it was the first item listed by In-Stat." > > TIA was invited to comment but declined to do so. > > In other words, here is what we have learned. In-Stat does not claim to > know how many BPL subscribers there are, but provides an estimate of 231,000 > broadband subscribers who receive service via delivery systems other than > DSL, cable, and satellite. Wilkofsky Gruen Associates, on the basis of > nothing more than that BPL is listed first, assumes that the bulk of these > 231,000 are BPL subscribers and arbitrarily attributes 200,000 of them to > BPL. In turn, NTIA – not satisfied with an FCC figure that is derived from > * required reports* from service providers – cites this arbitrarily chosen > figure – a figure that is entirely unsupported by any data whatsoever – as > evidence that the FCC's figure – which is fully supported by data – "appears > low." > > *On February 1 (**http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/02/01/101/?nc=1*<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/02/01/101/?nc=1> > *) we called upon the NTIA to issue a corrected report. We renew that call > now.* > > David Sumner > Chief Executive Officer, ARRL > February 5, 2008 >

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[arrl-odv:16483] Re: Fwd: D-Star; Request for Informal Opinion
by Bob Vallio 07 Feb '08

07 Feb '08

This looks very good, indeed, Chris. Resolution of the "simultaneous" issue should put this one to bed. 73, Bob -- W6RGG On Feb 6, 2008 9:58 AM, <w3kd(a)aol.com> wrote: > Greetings. This was just sent to FCC. It is a letter request for an > informal opinion about the proper regulatory classification of D-Star > systems. This letter was discussed at the Board meeting. It was delayed for > editorial reasons, and has now become urgent, inasmuch as Bill Cross at FCC > has received a similar request from the Northern California Packet > Association, asking about the simultaneous retransmission concept. Cross > wanted our letter before March 1. So this is it. We believe that we will > receive the interpretation that we are looking for, but will continue to > contact Cross to make sure as best we can in the near term. > > Let me know any questions you have about this filing. Thanks to Dan > Henderson for initially drafting it, and to Dave Sumner for important and > substantial edits. > > 73, Chris W3KD > > > -----Original Message----- > From: w3kd(a)aol.com > To: Riley.Hollingsworth(a)fcc.gov; William.Cross(a)fcc.gov > Cc: dhenderson(a)arrl.org; dsumner(a)arrl.org; prinaldo(a)arrl.org > Sent: Wed, 6 Feb 2008 12:52 pm > Subject: D-Star; Request for Informal Opinion > > Greetings. Letter attached regarding D-Star and the proper regulatory > classification of D-Star operation. > > Please contact the undersigned with any questions. This letter is being > delivered by U.S. Mail as well as by e-mail. > > Kind regards, > > Chris Imlay > > Booth, Freret, Imlay & Tepper, P.C. > 14356 Cape May Road > Silver Spring, Maryland 20904-6011 > (301) 384-5525 telephone > (301) 384-6384 facsimile > W3KD(a)ARRL.ORG > ------------------------------ > More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail<http://o.aolcdn.com/cdn.webmail.aol.com/mailtour/aol/en-us/text.htm?ncid=ao…> > ! >

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RE: [arrl-odv:16477] January membership stats
by K8JE 06 Feb '08

06 Feb '08

Stock market? I certainly hope we don't run into months when we lose (temporarily, of course) as much as the market! Hi! Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: <mailto:k8je@arrl.org> k8je(a)arrl.org; Tel.: 513-459-0142 ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is! Members - The Reason ARRL Is! _____ From: Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ [mailto:dsumner@arrl.org] Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 2:08 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:16477] January membership stats The membership stats for January 2008 are available to Board members at <http://www.arrl.org/members-only/ODV/memstats.html> http://www.arrl.org/members-only/ODV/memstats.html. They show a nice increase for the month, of 441 members, to 153,976. Katie tried very hard to find another 24! As we go through 2008 it's unlikely that we are going to show a gain every month, so please be prepared for some months in which the membership drops a bit. Even the stock market doesn't go up every day (oops, bad example...). Dave K1ZZ

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[arrl-odv:16481] Re:D-Star; Request for Informal Opinion
by dick＠pobox.com 06 Feb '08

06 Feb '08

6 FEB 2008 - 1410 CST Hello Chris... The informal opinion request letter looks good to me. I like the thorough discussion without a lot of the legalese and citations. - Dick, W9GIG

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[arrl-odv:16480] Re: January membership stats
by joelh＠centurytel.net 06 Feb '08

06 Feb '08

Yes, and do futures trading in the evening!!! :-) ZN Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T -----Original Message----- From: <n3llr(a)earthlink.net> Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2008 14:50:00 To:"arrl-odv" <arrl-odv(a)reflector.arrl.org> Subject: [arrl-odv:16478] Re: January membership stats Are you saying we need to become day-traders for members? (g) Good numbers! - Bill N3LLR -----Original Message----- From: "Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ" <dsumner(a)arrl.org> Subj: [arrl-odv:16477] January membership stats Date: Wed Feb 6, 2008 2:11 pm Size: 1K To: "arrl-odv" <arrl-odv(a)reflector.arrl.org> January membership stats The membership stats for January 2008 are available to Board members at http://www.arrl.org/members-only/ODV/memstats.html. They show a nice increase for the month, of 441 members, to 153,976. Katie tried very hard to find another 24! As we go through 2008 it's unlikely that we are going to show a gain every month, so please be prepared for some months in which the membership drops a bit. Even the stock market doesn't go up every day (oops, bad example...). Dave K1ZZ

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[arrl-odv:16478] Re: January membership stats
by n3llr＠earthlink.net 06 Feb '08

06 Feb '08

Are you saying we need to become day-traders for members? (g) Good numbers! - Bill N3LLR -----Original Message----- From: "Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ" <dsumner(a)arrl.org> Subj: [arrl-odv:16477] January membership stats Date: Wed Feb 6, 2008 2:11 pm Size: 1K To: "arrl-odv" <arrl-odv(a)reflector.arrl.org> January membership stats The membership stats for January 2008 are available to Board members at http://www.arrl.org/members-only/ODV/memstats.html. They show a nice increase for the month, of 441 members, to 153,976. Katie tried very hard to find another 24! As we go through 2008 it's unlikely that we are going to show a gain every month, so please be prepared for some months in which the membership drops a bit. Even the stock market doesn't go up every day (oops, bad example...). Dave K1ZZ

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[arrl-odv:16477] January membership stats
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 06 Feb '08

06 Feb '08

The membership stats for January 2008 are available to Board members at http://www.arrl.org/members-only/ODV/memstats.html. They show a nice increase for the month, of 441 members, to 153,976. Katie tried very hard to find another 24! As we go through 2008 it's unlikely that we are going to show a gain every month, so please be prepared for some months in which the membership drops a bit. Even the stock market doesn't go up every day (oops, bad example...). Dave K1ZZ

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[arrl-odv:16476] Fwd: D-Star; Request for Informal Opinion
by w3kd＠aol.com 06 Feb '08

06 Feb '08

Greetings. This was just sent to FCC. It is a letter request for an informal opinion about the proper regulatory classification of D-Star systems. This letter was discussed at the Board meeting. It was delayed for editorial reasons, and has now become urgent, inasmuch as Bill Cross at FCC has received a similar request from?the Northern California Packet Association, asking about the simultaneous retransmission concept. Cross wanted our letter before March 1. So this is it. We believe that we will receive the interpretation that we are looking for, but will continue to contact Cross to make sure as best we can in the near term. ? Let me know any questions you have about this filing. Thanks to Dan Henderson for initially drafting it, and to Dave Sumner for important and substantial edits. 73, Chris W3KD -----Original Message----- From: w3kd(a)aol.com To: Riley.Hollingsworth(a)fcc.gov; William.Cross(a)fcc.gov Cc: dhenderson(a)arrl.org; dsumner(a)arrl.org; prinaldo(a)arrl.org Sent: Wed, 6 Feb 2008 12:52 pm Subject: D-Star; Request for Informal Opinion Greetings. Letter attached regarding D-Star and the proper regulatory classification of D-Star operation. Please contact the undersigned with any questions. This letter is being delivered by U.S. Mail as well as by e-mail. Kind regards, Chris Imlay Booth, Freret, Imlay & Tepper, P.C. 14356 Cape May Road Silver Spring, Maryland 20904-6011 (301) 384-5525 telephone (301) 384-6384 facsimile W3KD(a)ARRL.ORG More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail! ________________________________________________________________________ More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail ! - http://webmail.aol.com

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[arrl-odv:16475] Re: Followup NTIA Inflated Figure Story
by Greg Sarratt 06 Feb '08

06 Feb '08

Looks like the number of the BPL project target customers, that live in "areas unserved by the more common wired and wireless technologies (page 26, first paragraph)" would be easy to find? 73, Greg, W4OZK Quoting "Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ" <dsumner(a)arrl.org>: > This is going on the Web momentarily and into this week's ARRL Letter. > > Dave > > "Source" Disavows Inflated NTIA BPL Figure > > The National Telecommunications and Information Administration report > "Networked Nation: Broadband in America 2007" that was released on > January 31, 2008 includes the following: > Reliable BPL [broadband over power lines] subscribership > figures are difficult to find. The FCC's most recent data identify fewer > than 5,000 BPL customers as of yearend 2006. That figure appears low, > however. TIA [The Telecommunications Industry Association] estimates > 200,000 current BPL subscribers... > > Five years of experience in dealing with BPL systems as a radio > interference source have given the ARRL, the national association for > Amateur Radio, considerable insight into the BPL industry. Based on that > experience, the ARRL has concluded that the FCC's figure of fewer than > 5,000 BPL customers is entirely credible. Therefore, the ARRL set out to > determine the source of the "estimate" of 200,000 current BPL > subscribers. > > We contacted TIA and were advised that the figure came from a market > study prepared by Wilkofsky Gruen Associates Inc. > (www.wilkofskygruen.com) and based on research conducted by In-Stat > (www.instat.com) a unit of Reed Business Information. > > So, we contacted In-Stat and asked how the figure was derived. They > responded: "The 200,000 number for BPL subs did not come from In-Stat. > In our US broadband forecast, we estimate about 231,000 broadband > subscribers in the "other" category besides DSL, cable, satellite. Other > includes BPL, but is not solely BPL." > > We then contacted Wilkofsky Gruen Associates. They responded, "Our > source for the BPL figures was In-Stat." When In-Stat's denial was > shared with them they responded, "It was our understanding that BPL was > the principal component as it was the first item listed by In-Stat." > > TIA was invited to comment but declined to do so. > > In other words, here is what we have learned. In-Stat does not claim to > know how many BPL subscribers there are, but provides an estimate of > 231,000 broadband subscribers who receive service via delivery systems > other than DSL, cable, and satellite. Wilkofsky Gruen Associates, on the > basis of nothing more than that BPL is listed first, assumes that the > bulk of these 231,000 are BPL subscribers and arbitrarily attributes > 200,000 of them to BPL. In turn, NTIA - not satisfied with an FCC figure > that is derived from required reports from service providers - cites > this arbitrarily chosen figure - a figure that is entirely unsupported > by any data whatsoever - as evidence that the FCC's figure - which is > fully supported by data - "appears low." > > On February 1 (http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/02/01/101/?nc=1) we > called upon the NTIA to issue a corrected report. We renew that call > now. > > David Sumner > Chief Executive Officer, ARRL > February 5, 2008 > >

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[arrl-odv:16474] Followup NTIA Inflated Figure Story
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 06 Feb '08

06 Feb '08

This is going on the Web momentarily and into this week's ARRL Letter. Dave "Source" Disavows Inflated NTIA BPL Figure The National Telecommunications and Information Administration report "Networked Nation: Broadband in America 2007" that was released on January 31, 2008 includes the following: Reliable BPL [broadband over power lines] subscribership figures are difficult to find. The FCC's most recent data identify fewer than 5,000 BPL customers as of yearend 2006. That figure appears low, however. TIA [The Telecommunications Industry Association] estimates 200,000 current BPL subscribers... Five years of experience in dealing with BPL systems as a radio interference source have given the ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio, considerable insight into the BPL industry. Based on that experience, the ARRL has concluded that the FCC's figure of fewer than 5,000 BPL customers is entirely credible. Therefore, the ARRL set out to determine the source of the "estimate" of 200,000 current BPL subscribers. We contacted TIA and were advised that the figure came from a market study prepared by Wilkofsky Gruen Associates Inc. (www.wilkofskygruen.com) and based on research conducted by In-Stat (www.instat.com) a unit of Reed Business Information. So, we contacted In-Stat and asked how the figure was derived. They responded: "The 200,000 number for BPL subs did not come from In-Stat. In our US broadband forecast, we estimate about 231,000 broadband subscribers in the "other" category besides DSL, cable, satellite. Other includes BPL, but is not solely BPL." We then contacted Wilkofsky Gruen Associates. They responded, "Our source for the BPL figures was In-Stat." When In-Stat's denial was shared with them they responded, "It was our understanding that BPL was the principal component as it was the first item listed by In-Stat." TIA was invited to comment but declined to do so. In other words, here is what we have learned. In-Stat does not claim to know how many BPL subscribers there are, but provides an estimate of 231,000 broadband subscribers who receive service via delivery systems other than DSL, cable, and satellite. Wilkofsky Gruen Associates, on the basis of nothing more than that BPL is listed first, assumes that the bulk of these 231,000 are BPL subscribers and arbitrarily attributes 200,000 of them to BPL. In turn, NTIA - not satisfied with an FCC figure that is derived from required reports from service providers - cites this arbitrarily chosen figure - a figure that is entirely unsupported by any data whatsoever - as evidence that the FCC's figure - which is fully supported by data - "appears low." On February 1 (http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/02/01/101/?nc=1) we called upon the NTIA to issue a corrected report. We renew that call now. David Sumner Chief Executive Officer, ARRL February 5, 2008

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