Please don't circulate this anywhere. I got this from WilmerHale just now. Interesting piece on the BPL Remand from today's Communications Daily. Very defensive by Current Technologies, trying to shore up its sagging markets. The part from the ethically bankrupt and borderline incompetent Brett Kilbourne is simply to be disregarded. 73, Chris W3KD ________________________________ Copyright 2008 Warren Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved COMMUNICATIONS DAILY May 09, 2008 Friday SECTION: TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINE: Court Remand of FCC BPL Rules Seen Adding to Uncertainty An appeals court remand of FCC broadband over powerline rules could create regulatory uncertainty for utilities, possibly slowing the technology's already anemic rollout, officials said. For state regulators, who are eyeing BPL as a way of making power utilities more efficient, the remand could be a "bump in the road," said one official. In sending the rules back to the agency, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said the FCC gave no "reasoned explanation" for an extrapolation factor used to measure BPL emissions (CD April 28 p2). The court wanted the Commission to justify its 40 dB per decade extrapolation factor or use a method it can explain. The court found the agency violated the Administrative Procedure Act by blacking out portions of studies it conducted for formulating its rules. The ruling could affect state BPL activities, said Commissioner Tony Clark of the North Dakota Public Service Commission. "It could be a sort of a bump in the road from a timing standpoint," Clark, head of NARUC's telecom committee, told us. But he doesn't "sense" many state commissions delving into BPL now, Clark said. States are focusing on grid, transmission and distribution issues in the "traditional realm," he said. The court action could affect the push to smarten up the electric grid, he said. But BPL is just a "byproduct," he said, and "it's not spoken of in a vacuum." Smart grid research relates to many areas and technologies, including BPL, Clark said. NARUC General Counsel Brad Ramsey doesn't expect BPL pilots to be "significantly" affected, he said. The court order involves a technical issue that the FCC has to "go back and explain," he said, adding that he hadn't analyzed the ruling. Ham radio operators could cause trouble by seeking injunctions against BPL pilots, he said, adding that based on what he knows of the decision, "I wouldn't give them a high probability of success." "A little bit more uncertainty" will arise as the FCC studies the rules, said Brett Kilbourne, regulatory director of the United Power Line Council. The UPLC has heard of no rollback in utility plans for deployment due to the decision, he said. Agency handling of the extrapolation factor has to play out, with the resulting changes perhaps leading to some existing systems being grandfathered, he said. Kilbourne expects more movement in the in-home sector, he said, adding that that may arise from factors other than the legal ruling. The verdict won't affect the work of BPL provider Current Communications, whose Dallas BPL deployment is the largest in the U.S., said General Counsel Jay Birnbaum. "The rules are still in effect," he said. BPL deployment in Texas crosses 100,000 homes, with not one interference complaint in the last two years, he said: "At some point of time you got to wake up and realize that this stuff isn't causing interference [and] the rules actually work." Current doesn't worry about the outcome of the new FCC proceedings, he said. All equipment deployed complies with FCC rules, he said, and the Commission hasn't required anyone to change gear complying with rules in place at the time of installation, he said. BPL deployments have lagged in part due to "noise" from ham radio operators, said Naqi Jaffery of Telecom Trends International. The basic FCC rules are intact, so the court decision won't change the dynamics, he said. "BPL will continue to be a niche technology and its growth will be slow and steady," he said, predicting more traction in the home- networking area, which has fewer alternatives. The legal setback will add to the regulatory uncertainty, said analyst Coleman Bazelon. "It's not good for BPL." -- Dinesh Kumar LOAD-DATE: May 8, 2008 Next <JavaScript:goSubmit('UserDisplayFullDocument', '2665', '108080029', 'false', '2', '', '', '', '', '')> Back to Document List <http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayCiteList&orgId=2665&topicId=108080029> Copyright © 2008 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. <http://www.lexis-nexis.com/lncc/about/copyrt.html> Terms and Conditions <http://www.lexis-nexis.com/terms/general> Privacy Policy <http://www.lexis-nexis.com/terms/privacy> [Image Removed] [Image Removed] [Image Removed]