Second, while ham radio operators and the ARRL may be the most vocal opponents of BPL, they are certainly not the only licensed services which are opposed to, and will be affected by BPL deployment in the HF and low VHF wireless spectrum. There are dozens or hundreds of other licensed services which are or will be affected by BPL including such diverse agencies, organizations, and fields as the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, taxi cab companies, WalMart clerks, mobile telephone services, ship-to-shore telephone interfaces, trucking and railroad dispatch systems, radio astronomy scientists, and indeed power utilities' own organic radio systems to name a few, in addition to those emergency services mentioned in the Computing Unplugged article (e.g., police, fire, rescue, medical and other emergency services).

The advantages the ARRL and ham operators have is that we are better organized and know the technical aspects and interference potential of BPL and are not under any politically- nor industry-motivated gag orders. Most other organizations utilizing HF and VHF lack the technical expertise to gather their own data and use it to protest to the FCC, so have let the ARRL assume lead agency status against BPL.

As one high-level Red Cross official told me three years ago, "We don't know anything about that stuff. You guys take care of it for us.". The article's coverage also omits reference to government communications within the affected spectrum. The NTIA, which regulates Federal government wireless communications (The FCC regulates non-Federal communications), after initially opposing BPL in its proposed form to the FCC three years ago (see http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/fccfilings/2003/bplcomments_08132003.htm) was forced by political (and personal) pressure from the White House to withdraw its opposition, amend its 2003 comments to the FCC, and greatly water down or neutralize its negative findings regarding BPL (see http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/fccfilings/2004/BPLComments_06042004.htm).

For example, BPL will adversely affect military tactical communications since the standard FM radios (35 MHz to 75 MHz) used by the Army (and National Guard and Army Reserve) and Marines are well within the BPL spectrum; however, nobody in government is permitted to bring forward this fact. In another area in which I have personal knowledge, BPL will interfere with a major drug smuggling detection and interdiction project; this information is classified, but suffice it to state the operators of this hemisphere-wide project are deeply concerned, but are not permitted to protest for fear of prosecution by US Department of Justice, not to mention loss of their Federal contracts.

Similarly, FEMA initially expressed great concern about BPL's effects on emergency communications (at http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/24470-1.html), but subsequently was forced to dilute these concerns by its political bosses. The short deadline for this article prevents me from fully documenting the depth to which Federal Agencies have been compelled by the Administration to suppress their opposition to BPL and eliminate or weaken any technical data which they produced or might produce which would demonstrate the interference generated by BPL to government wireless systems.