The Honorable __________ 
United States House of Representatives 
____________ House Office Building 
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Congressman/woman ___________:

 On behalf of nearly 700,000 federally licensed Amateur Radio operators across the nation, I wish to bring to your attention an issue that affects emergency communication operations. As a voter in your district, I request that you become a cosponsor of H.R. 462, and support its passage within the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee. This is the "Emergency Amateur Radio Interference Protection Act." This bill urges the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct a very targeted but comprehensive evaluation of "broadband over power line" (BPL) systems that may interfere with public safety and other licensed radio services.

BPL utilizes electric power lines as conductors of broadband signals. Unfortunately, because power lines are not shielded, they also act as antennas and radiate signals into the air. These radiated signals interfere with radio receivers tuned to the same frequency range. BPL is deployed only to a very limited extent, but amateur radio operators and several state public safety commissions report they are already experiencing severe interference that the FCC has been unable or unwilling to correct.

Because the amateur radio service needs no infrastructure for it to communicate, it is the only 100 percent fail-safe emergency communication system in the world. Interference from BPL emissions is significantly disrupting this capability.

The impact on emergency communications extends beyond amateur radio. Fourteen states utilize a similar frequency range for state police operations. Nine of these states use it as their primary radio band. The interference concern has also been echoed by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International (APCO), and the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC).

In deploying broadband, it is vital that further understanding and causation of interference be studied by the FCC. H.R. 462 will accomplish this goal, by allowing the FCC to ascertain what additional rules governing BPL systems, if any, should be adopted by the FCC in order to reduce the interference potential to a reasonably low level. The FCC has authority to study this issue, as it is the primary agency responsible for adopting rules in BPL systems. Unfortunately, the 2004 rules governing BPL are not sufficient to reduce the probability of harmful interference to reasonable levels. This non-controversial study language was included as part of H.R. 5252, the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act (COPE) of 2006.

Amateur radio operators, like me, are not opposed to broadband services. On the contrary, we usually tend to be early adopters of new technology. However, BPL represents a significant potential interference source for radio services using certain frequency ranges. Unlike BPL, other methods of providing broadband Internet services to consumers, such as cable, DSL, wireless and Fiber to the Home, do not pollute the radio spectrum.

It is imperative that there is a comprehensive evaluation of the interference potential of BPL to public safety services and other licensed radio services. The potential impact on public safety communications must be taken into consideration. Please cosponsor and support passage of H.R. 462, or support its inclusion in a comprehensive broadband bill. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

 Sincerely,

 Name, Title, Contact Information