European Union Adopts BPL Standard Over Hams' Opposition

European Union flag
(Courtesy CIA World Factbook)

The European Union has adopted new technical standards for PLT (the European name for what American hams know as BPL, or Broadband over Power Lines), despite objections from national amateur radio associations in England, Germany and elsewhere. According to the British online newspaper, The Register, the new standard does require that Power Line Telecommunication signals must avoid amateur radio bands, use the minimum necessary power and shut down when not in use. The Radio Society of Great Britain and other ham groups had lobbied for extending to PLT current rules on other RF-producing devices that they not "generate undue radio interference."

In the United States, BPL has become somewhat of a non-issue as it has not turned out to be an economically viable alternative to cable and phone company internet service.