ARRL versus K-Mart's BPL Vision

The ARRL this week took FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin to task for telling the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation that broadband over power line (BPL) technology is the answer to broadband deployment in rural areas. Martin and the other four FCC commissioners testified February 1 during a committee hearing, "Assessing the Communications Marketplace: A View from the FCC." In his prepared remarks, the chairman described BPL as a "potentially significant player due to power lines' ubiquitous reach, allowing it to more easily provide broadband to rural areas." ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, criticized Martin for repeating "specious BPL industry claims" that suggest BPL has anything to offer rural dwellers. "The assertion that BPL can 'more easily provide broadband to rural areas' is one of the big lies about BPL," Sumner said. "It has been debunked time and time again, and it is beyond comprehension to hear it parroted by the federal government's senior telecommunications regulator at this late date."

You can read the rest here. It is getting to the point where Kevin Martin, the Harry Potter looking chairman of the FCC (aka K-Mart), has become a true-blue politician. He buries studies; tweaks stats; and generally demonstrates that either he has no clue what is going on in the real world or is being influenced to keep it hidden.