National Association for Amateur Radio Responds to President's Comments on
Broadband Internet Technology
Monday April 26, 6:50 pm ET
NEWINGTON, Conn., April 26 /PRNewswire/ --

ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio, today expressed its deep
concerns in response to a speech delivered by President Bush in Minneapolis.
In the speech, Mr. Bush said that "technical standards need to be changed"
to encourage the delivery of broadband over power lines (BPL).

"The ARRL supports bringing broadband services to more consumers at lower
cost," says ARRL President Jim Haynie of Dallas, Texas. "However, before BPL
should be encouraged as a means of doing so there is a significant problem
that must be solved. Quite simply, unlike other broadband technologies, BPL
pollutes the radio spectrum. So far, the proponents of the technology have
failed to treat this problem as seriously as it deserves."

Right now, BPL is being tested in trial communities throughout the United
States. At every installation that ARRL engineers have visited, broadband
signals have been found to cause severe interference to short wave radio
reception. The interference affects not only amateur radio operators, but
also other users of short wave radio. Depending on the frequencies being
used, it could also disrupt communications by police, fire, and emergency
medical "first responders."

Haynie has sent a letter to President Bush explaining the ARRL's concerns
and requesting that the administration withdraw its support for BPL.
Information on the interference issue may be found on the ARRL Web site,
www.arrl.org/bpl.

Today there are nearly 700,000 Amateur Radio operators in the United States
and more than 2.5 million worldwide. Information on how to become involved
in Amateur Radio is available from ARRL -- the national association for
Amateur Radio, 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111 or by calling 1-800-
32-NEW HAM. Visit ARRL on the Web at www.arrl.org. The ARRL has more than
154,000 members.

Source: American Radio Relay League, the national association for Amateur
Radio

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