Major Upgrade Coming to Manassas, Va., Broadband Over Powerline System

Communication Technologies Inc. (COMTek) announced today that it will upgrade all of its 600 overhead broadband over powerline (BPL) devices in Manassas, Va., to the latest Mainnet second generation "G2" technology in order to further enhance the broadband services it is delivering to a rapidly growing number of residential and commercial customers in this outlying Washington, D.C., suburb.

COMTek filed a report on the Manassas system with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in which the company reported that an independent FCC-certified testing laboratory could find no interference attributable to BPL in the specific ham radio frequencies covered in a recent FCC filing made by an amateur radio enthusiast. The laboratory conducted rigorous FCC-mandated testing, including "on/off testing" to show the level of interference with BPL in operation and with BPL turned off. An almost identical level of interference was found in the ham radio bands covered in the complaint to the FCC, regardless of whether or not the BPL equipment was in operation. This means that, while ham radio operators may have detected the interference reported to the FCC, it does not appear to arise from COMTek’s BPL operations.

Full Story: http://www.govtech.net/news/news.php?id=99087