On July 25, the ARRL filed an Informal Objection to Ambient Corporation's request for a renewal of their nationwide experimental authorization that allows them to operate broadband over power line (BPL) operations anywhere in the country they choose. Ambient has been operating its BPL equipment under experimental authorizations for more than five years, an unusual amount of time for an experimental authorization. An Informal Objection is the procedure dictated by the FCC's Part 5 rules protesting the renewal of an experimental authorization. Currently, Ambient currently operates a BPL system in Briarcliff Manor in Westchester County, New York. Other installations have apparently been shut down by Ambient.
Ambient has been using experimental authorization WD2XEQ, issued in 2005, and its predecessor WB9XQT, issued on June 24, 2002. WB9XQT covered the BPL operation in Briarcliff Manor. It was replaced by WD2XEQ on July 28, 2003, a two-year authorization that was twice extended, most recently through August 1, 2007.
The ARRL states in its Objection that "since the issuance of the first experimental authorization, rules have been enacted for the regular Part 15 operation of BPL systems and there is nothing that has been filed by Ambient which could justify the continuation of experimental operation of this system rather than operation pursuant to the Commission's rules governing virtually all other BPL systems."
The ARRL filed complaints against Ambient and its BPL operation in Briarcliff Manor on October 12, 2004; December 17, 2004; January 7, 2005; March 17, 2005; January 6, 2006; March 29, 2006 and May 31, 2007. The Objection said that each complaint reported "ongoing, harmful interference caused by the unlawful operation of Ambient's BPL project at Briarcliff Manor in violation of the terms of the experimental authorization." These complaints, supported both by documentation by amateurs as well as tests made by ARRL staff, concluded that "this facility was, and now still is, causing harmful interference to Amateur Radio stations. As such, it is in violation of the terms of the experimental authorization."
