Dave, I have a lot of folks that would be interested in knowing about this. Is a link to the news release or an article going to be sent out today? Something on our web site? Coy -- ARRL West Gulf Division Director Coy Day, N5OK 20685 SW 29th St Union City, OK 73090 n5ok@arrl.org 405-483-5632 -------------- Original message from "Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ" <dsumner@arrl.org>: -------------- Officers, Directors, and Vice Directors: The following news release from Motorola is in fact very good news. The ARRL technical staff has been working with Motorola under a non-disclosure agreement as they developed a BPL system that addresses the interference issue seriously. First and foremost, Motorola's BPL product does not use the medium voltage (MV) power lines. Even its name, Powerline LV, reinforces this fact. The system design uses the Motorola Canopy wireless system to bridge between the fiber or wireless backhaul and the low-voltage side of the customer's power transformer. This eliminates from the BPL interference equation the factor for which there simply is no solution: radiation from the MV lines. Second, Motorola has added hardware notch filters to the notches already programmed into HomePlug modems. Third, if in spite of these steps there is interference in a particular installation, Motorola will simply substitute a wireless link for the low-voltage BPL link. The first installation will be near Spartanburg, South Carolina. Motorola already has been in touch with South Carolina SM Jim Boehner, N2ZZ, for help in recruiting the operators of high-power HF stations in the vicinity to participate in egress and ingress interference tests. The proof of the pudding is, of course, in the eating. We can't put an "ARRL Seal of Approval" on a system that we haven't actually seen, nor would we want to. However, we will congratulate Motorola for doing the right thing by avoiding the MV lines entirely, for proactively adding the hardware notches, and for having a wireless fallback for the more difficult situations. We have been saying all along that we are not opposed to BPL -- we are opposed to the interference. Motorola is reinforcing our argument against putting BPL on the MV lines while giving us the opportunity to be something other than nay-sayers (and, not incidentally, to make the point that the FCC could have gone much further to protect radio services without preventing BPL deployment). Whether Motorola's product will succeed in the marketplace remains to be seen, but it should drive out at least some of the BPL players who have demonstrated neither interest nor competence in dealing with the interference issue. Dave K1ZZ Motorola’s Commercial Broadband Over Powerline Solution Debuts at “Telecom 2005” Company Introduces First Powerline LV Utility Customer LONG BEACH, Ca., – 23 May 2005 – Motorola (NYSE: MOT) today announced the introduction of a wireless to low-voltage Broadband Over Powerline (BPL) solution, Powerline LV (Low Voltage). Powerline LV’s introduction to the utility industry was made during the United Telecom Council’s “Telecom 2005” Expo in Long Beach, Ca. Powerline LV unites Motorola’s Canopy™ Broadband Internet Platform with enhanced HomePlug™ technology to provide an end-to-end Broadband Over Powerline solution for the utility market. The first wireless to low-voltage solution for widespread commercial use, Powerline LV combines the Canopy platform’s reliable high-speed Internet service with the lower-cost and non-invasive benefits of a low-voltage BPL option. By operating the Canopy HomePlug system on low-voltage powerlines, Powerline LV is significantly less susceptible to interference. Motorola developed a solution that does not use medium-voltage wiring, greatly reducing high-frequency (HF) interference. Motorola also integrated true radio-frequency (RF) notch filtering, providing additional protection for amateur radio transmissions. “Motorola created a low-voltage broadband solution that is both economical and extremely easy to install and maintain, enabling an attractive business case for utilities entering this market,” said Chris Banakis, Motorola Vice President and Director of Enterprise Utilities Solutions. “Powerline LV combines the best of both worlds – proven technology with a commercially effective BPL system.” Powerline LV is an extension of Motorola’s integrated broadband solutions offering, including end-to-end hardware and software to deliver broadband services to telecommunications providers world-wide. Operating Efficiency for Utilities With Powerline LV, only three pieces of equipment are needed to connect a customer to the broadband network – the Powerline LV access point cluster, integrated antenna and bridge router and home plug modem. Because no cabling or other wiring is required to bring the broadband signal to service areas, start-up costs and installation requirements are minimal. “On top of offering significant business expansion opportunities for utilities, Powerline LV supports many of today’s core utility applications, making the solution’s value proposition even stronger,” continued Banakis. Grid management applications such as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) and Substation Monitoring can easily be supported by Powerline LV’s Canopy platform. Many of Canopy’s existing utility customers already use the system to successfully support a variety of core business applications. Broad River Customers Up-to-Speed with Powerline LV As many as 13 million U.S. households remain unable to receive broadband services from traditional cable modem or DSL providers.[1] Broadband Over Powerline options such as Powerline LV bring the power of broadband to cities and municipalities underserved by current broadband providers. A distribution cooperative serving approximately 25,000 rural utility customers in upstate South Carolina, Broad River Electric represents one of the nation’s underserved markets. Broad River receives networking communications and project management support from New Horizon Electric Cooperative. Earlier this month, Broad River and New Horizon established a relationship with Motorola to launch Powerline LV within Broad River’s South Carolina service area. “As an electric cooperative in an area with very limited broadband service options, we were actively seeking ways to bring high-speed Internet to our customers,” said Michael Varner, Vice President for Information Services, New Horizon Electric Cooperative. “Powerline LV presented a cost-effective approach to serving customer needs within a rural, underserved market, while also satisfying Broad River’s need for managing core business applications on an IP system. As a result, we see return on investment potential in both areas.” Leveraging the Canopy™ Broadband Internet Platform Canopy’s point-to-multipoint technology allows utility customers to create a broadband network of virtually any size. Once in place, the Canopy network can serve as a dedicated data link or as a back-up network for the enterprise. “The Canopy system provides the scalability and control necessary to target specific areas for service delivery without requiring a full buildout,” said Tom Hulsebosch, Global Director of Business Development for Motorola's Canopy Wireless Broadband group. “This level of flexibility is especially important for utilities introducing their customers to the new offering since costs are incurred only as customers are added to the system.” “With more than 15,000 Canopy sites deployed worldwide, we have worked with customers to implement and support a wide range of wireless broadband networks, and can now bring this expertise to the Powerline LV solution,” said Hulsebosch. Powerline LV Development Team Powerline LV was developed through a partnership between Motorola Government and Enterprise Mobility Solutions and the internal commercialization arm of Motorola Labs. “We recognized Broadband Over Powerline as an important emerging technology and were eager to facilitate development of this unique BPL solution,” said Jim O’Connor, vice president, Motorola technology incubation and commercialization. “Ubiquitous broadband will be a key enabler of Seamless Mobility and solutions such as Powerline LV are bringing that vision to life.” Powerline LV represents the latest addition to the Company’s expanding portfolio of integrated wireless communication solutions for the Enterprise Market. Motorola’s Enterprise Mobility Solutions connect data and decision maker for improved productivity, competitiveness, profitability and differentiated customer service. Motorola’s end-to-end broadband and wireless technologies for the utility industry, including Powerline LV, will be showcased at Booth #311. About Motorola’s Canopy™ Broadband Internet Platform The Canopy system is a scalable, robust, and reliable platform for voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), video and broadband data applications. Its superb performance promises one of the lowest total costs of ownership and can significantly reduce a provider's start-up, maintenance and leased-line costs. Governments, enterprises, carriers and Internet service providers have deployed Canopy wireless broadband products to provide wide-area WiMAX like broadband and VoIP service to hundreds of thousands of subscribers in more than 85 countries worldwide. Please visit our website at www.motorola.com/canopy and the online magazine Connections at www.connectwithcanopy.com About Motorola Motorola is a Fortune 100 global communications leader that provides seamless mobility products and solutions across broadband, embedded systems and wireless networks. In your home, auto, workplace and all spaces in between, seamless mobility means you can reach the people, things and information you need, anywhere, anytime. Seamless mobility harnesses the power of technology convergence and enables smarter, faster, cost-effective and flexible communication. Motorola had sales of US $31.3 billion in 2004. For more information: www.motorola.com # # # Media Contact: Heather Robinson Motorola +1-847-576-1638 (office) +1-303-506-0259 (mobile) MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. ©Motorola, Inc. 2005. [1] The Brattle Group, April 2005 © Copyright 1994-2005 Motorola, Inc. All rights reserved.