ARLA/CLUSTER: Radioamadores australianos defendem limites mais apertados para as Interferências provocadas pelos sistemas domesticos de Powerline

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

WIA BPL/PLT Standards Submission to ACMA

In a submission on behalf of all radio amateurs, the Wireless
Institute of Australia has urged several actions against in-home
powerline telecommunications (PLT) devices, known also as 'in-house
BPL', that do not comply with the CISPR 22 standard

CISPR is International Special Committee on Radio Interference, and
its work it support by the International Amateur Radio Union.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is reviewing
the regulation for the PLT or BPL devices. These devices use high
frequency signals transmitted over mains powerlines to distribute
broadband access, including the internet, throughout a home or
building.

The WIA has been very active drawing attention to the potential for
the technology to cause interference to radio users.

You may recall some Australian electricity provider's trialled BPL in
Australia, mainly in Tasmania between 2004 and 2007. The technology
was not adopted in Australia due to various issues which made it
non-commercially viable, including the problems associated with
interference.

However in-home PLT has continued to be marketed.

The ACMA has asked whether it should use an alternative standard
EN50561 which allows higher limits for PLT but also includes signal
notching for some, but not all, HF amateur bands.

The WIA has called for the ACMA to continue to require the CISPR 22
standard for in-home PLT devices, to ensure the protection of existing
and future radiocommunication services from radio noise pollution or
interference.

If the ACMA chose to adopt the alternative, the WIA wants it modified
for Australian conditions, so notching for protected frequencies
cannot be removed or deactivated and also be provided over the 50MHz
band.

The WIA also wants a warning notice on all PLT devices that state such
devices may be responsible for radio interference, and that in the
case of interference, the device should be removed from use.

Suppliers have imported a large number of PLT devices that are not
compliant with CISPR 22. The WIA believes there should be more
effective compliance measures for all imported devices, together with
frequent random checks and audits.

The WIA believes that strong measures must be taken to avoid spectrum
pollution, especially when our modern society is increasingly
dependent on wireless communications.

The full submission can be read on the WIA website
https://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2016/20160412-3/documents/WIA%20-%20ACMA%20-PLT%20Submission%20-%20April%202016%20Final.pdf

Phil Wait VK2ASD

Source WIA News http://wia.org.au/