Greetings from D.C., President Haynie wanted the following sent to advise you of what occurred at the FCC’s Open Agenda Meeting today. The Commission unanimously voted to issue an NPRM to authorize BPL. Anh Wride of FCC’s OET presented the NPRM and identified the following four items included in it: 1. Continues current Part 15 emission limits for unlicensed carrier current systems. 2. Requires BPL systems to use adaptive technologies including the reduction of power dynamically and the ability to include or exclude certain frequencies. 3. BPL has notification requirements the same as power line carrier requirements and including a database accessible by the public that will include: a. Location of BPL system b. Type of modulation c. Frequency bands in use d. Licensed operator interfered with would contact the BPL provider and the provider must make adjustments to mitigate the interference. 4. Guidelines for repeatable measurements of BPL emissions. The NPRM also recognizes the concerns of current licensed radio operators and reaffirmed that licensed services must be protected. Some of the comments made by the Commissioners were as follows, which were addressed by Ed Thomas, Chief of FCC OET: Abernathy – Asked for an example of an interference situation and how it would be addressed under the NPRM proposed rules. Thomas said if interference is detected, the BPL system would be registered and the provider would be contacted and have responsibility and must mitigate the interference under all conditions. Technology has capability to notch out specific freq Kopp – Supports the technical side, but believed we (FCC) are avoiding very important parts of the interference issue. Martin – Sensitive to interference concerns raised by FEMA…but otherwise was very supportive of it. Adelstein – have to resolve interference issues before we move on but have to be mindful of unsupported interference concerns and identify their validity. Powell – Commission seeking more solutions to Broadband access. Thinks this technology is exciting – has potential to be broadband hope for rural America. The Commission continues to drive to empower the technology. We (FCC) have heard concerns about interference and will work hard on having our engineering group address those concerns. 73 Jim/Joel/Dave/Chris