The only remaining broadband over power lines (BPL) provider in the U.S. using frequencies that include amateur radio bands, has gone out of business. According to the ARRL Letter, IBEC - which had been the subject of ARRL interference complaints to the FCC - announced on its website that losses from last spring's tornadoes in Alabama had left it with "no other option than to close our doors and cease operations." The company had used BPL to provide internet service to rural areas.
ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, said that while the League regrets the loss of jobs resulting from IBEC's closure, "in the long run, the rural areas that IBEC was trying to serve will be better served by broadband technologies that are superior to BPL and do not pollute the radio spectrum." ARRL Lab Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI, added, "Now that IBEC is out of the game, no other (BPL) system in the country uses the amateur bands in their deployments."
