I can tell you that the aeronautical folks at the WRC regard it as a serious concern. Dave K1ZZ Quoting "Hobart, Mary K1MMH" <mhobart@arrl.org>:

The following is a response from Chris Imlay on the question of DOD's position on the BPL issue.

In a message dated 6/26/2003 9:32:08 AM Eastern Standard Time, mhobart@arrl.org writes:

What do you know about the DOD position on BPL and have they filed any comment to the NOI?

DoD has not filed any comments with FCC at this time, Mary, and they likely would not do so; their views would be reflected in NTIA's comments, which have not yet been filed either. NTIA normally doesn't file until near the deadline, which is 7/7/03.

We have not spoken with our contacts at DoD about this, but can do so. The point is, the vague references by some hams on 20 meters to some purported DoD position are not to be taken seriously. BPL has been aggressively lobbied in Congress and surely at DoD, but there is no public position by DoD at this point, and we are not privy to the position that DoD will take at the Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee (IRAC) which is where NTIA takes its cue on what to tell FCC in comments. IRAC meetings are not public.

Off the record, I suspect that a lot of agencies might have interference concerns about BPL. but to the extent that their HF use would not be near power lines, perhaps their concerns are ameliorated somewhat. We will be working with DoD on this issue shortly, but there is no basis for saying that they have no problem with BPL right now.

Chris

Regards, Chris