Broadband concerns | Letter

Published 4:23 pm Thursday, December 12, 2013

After reading your article of Nov. 27, 2013, regarding the broadband project by OPALCO, I am concerned for the overall communications plan for Orcas Island.

Since my mother has been living on Orcas, since 1974, I have been well aware of many issues of island life.  Underwater cables have certainly been an issue before and, I suspect, will be again in the future.

While I also understand the critical need for communications, there are many technical hurdles to implementing any broadband plan.  The primary issue with Broadband over Power Lines, if OPALCO is considering this approach, is one of interference with both commercial (Police, Fire, Rescue, Ambulance, etc) and amateur radio.  Obviously, Fire and Rescue are critical resources where communications is essential to their work; however, amateur radio (think “hams” or “short-wave operators”) has proven itself many times, with operators relaying vital information to those outside the area. Hurricane Katrina, several years ago, was truly catastrophic, but amateur radio operators were able to relay messages from many survivors to their worried kin outside the area.

The “Bottom Line” is that BPL needs to be properly controlled to prevent any interference with any radio systems in the surrounding area, which is a condition required by the Federal Communications Commission.  Amateur and commercial radio operators in the area should be closely examining the deployment of BPL to ensure their abilities to communicate over radio.  In many other communities BPL has not been able to meet the stringent requirements and has been a very expensive “non-starter”.

Leif Erickson

North Shore Emergency Management Office

North Vancouver, BC