Welcome to Ban Power Line Technology

Are you suffering from a strange-sounding interference to your FM radio, DAB radio, Taxi radio, Business radio (inc. shopping centre radio), Airband radio, Marine radio, Military radio, Amateur radio, Citizens' Band radio, or Shortwave radio?

You may be suffering deliberate interference (Spectrum Abuse) from a neighbour (or neighbours) who are using Power Line Technology (also known as Power Line Networking, Power Line Adapters and Broadband over Power Line).

The aim of this website is to help you understand the deliberate interference caused by Power Line Technology and what you can do about it!

If you have received a "Save the Radio Spectrum" leaflet and followed the http://www.plt-kills-radio.co.uk/ link, please read on as you may be causing unacceptable Spectrum Abuse to radio users!

What is Power Line Technology? Why is it causing so much fuss? What can you do about it?

What about other sources of radio interference (QRM)?

News & Info

If there appears to be no new news for a while, do not despair. We have not fallen asleep; we are simply waiting on government departments (which are not the quickest!) to reply to our letters and FOIA requests.

Scrap Ofcom - please sign the epetition calling for Ofcom to be scrapped.

Please feel free to join the Facebook Ban PLT Adapters group.

27/04/2012 Ofcom have published a consultation on draft regulations to create the Wireless Telegraphy Regulations 2012 to control interference from apparatus during the 2012 London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. The consultation Wireless Telegraphy (Control of Interference from Apparatus) (the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games) Regulations 2012 is open until the 28th May 2012.

Ofcom propose to make regulations under section 54(1) of the Act which prescribe a requirement imposed on the use of apparatus after it has already been placed on the market or put into service. Note the word after. In other words, for the period of the Olympics and the Paralympics, Ofcom will actually do their job as required by the EMC Directive and by statutory law. As soon as the games are over they will return to their old ways of ignoring interference complaints and ignoring the law. Oh, and do not think you can complain if you live far away from an Olympic venue - Ofcom will only do their job around the games venues. The rest of the UK is irrelevant!

16/03/2012 BBC highlight problems with PLT.

22/01/2012 Happy Birthday to us! Ban PLT is one year old today. Thank you to our 11,724 unique visitors and your 15,230 visits. The war is far from won, so please keep up the fight by spreading the word to every corner of the web, every family member, every friend, every work-colleague, and anyone who will listen to reason. Thank you for your support!

16/01/2012 A new peddler of PLT products 'Power Ethernet' (see our Shame page) wants to pollute hospitals and schools with Radio Frequency Interference.

03/01/2012 ARRL News: BPL Provider IBEC Announces Shutdown.

02/01/2012 A new video demonstrating radio interference from LED lighting. And check out Mark Demeuleneere's (ON4WW) page all about his troubles in tracking down radio interference problems and how the Belgian telecomms regulator actually do their job!

30/12/2011 In-house BPL product is withdrawn

18/11/2011 Our friends over at Southgate Amateur Radio Club detail Dave M0TAZ's problems with PLT and his dealings with Ofcom.

16/10/2011 Our new page Shame on you! names and shames the peddlers of interference generating devices; and not just PLT!

04/10/2011 Surprise, surprise, the EMCIA have been completely ignored by HM government and BIS. Read all about it in the EMC Journal Issue 96

03/10/2011 A video from LX3KR demonstrating the need for a QRM eliminator to remove PLT noise from neighbouring houses. 10MHz (and 5MHz) is an international Amateur Radio band and is clearly wiped by PLT!

05/09/11 A separate frequency allocation for PLT? The IARU Region 1 EMC working group discussed PLT at its meeting in Sun City on August 13, 2011.

The minutes say:

There are plans to use (and may be even allocate) the frequency range of 30 - 80 MHz to PLT, for several reasons. One is that the frequency range is not used as intensive and the amount of possible interference is expected to be less. The working group tasks the chair to go forward in this direction.

Recommendation: To support a separate frequency allocation for PLT equipment.

Download the minutes of the IARU Region 1 EMC working group, August 13, 2011.

12/08/2011 +1 us on Google!

10/08/2011 Talk on PLT with MEP Birgit Sippel

08/08/2011 A new FOIA request against the British Standards Institute.

08/08/2011 We have received another letter from a concerned radio user who has been attempting to enlighten BIS in their mis-reading of 2005/292/EC and their mis-understanding of how EN55022 is supposed to apply to PLT. BIS think differently and have declared "The Regulations do not require products to comply with a standard" and that "compliance with EN55022 is irrelevant." BIS also feel that "enforcement action would not be proportionate, and is unlikely to be considered as non-discriminatory". Discrimination against users of radio is perfectly acceptable then?! You can read it here for yourself and draw your own conclusions: BIS Letter 08-08-11 .

26/07/2011 We have received a letter from a concerned radio user who has been attempting to rectify issues of PLT interference with BIS. Their response is to tell the radio community to go away and hold up several EU documents as reason; whilst failing to notice all along that the documents still require PLT to conform to the EMC Directive. You can read it here for yourself and draw your own conclusions: BIS Letter 20-07-11 .

18/07/2011 Want to hear what PLT sounds like to legitimate users of the radio spectrum? Click the links up on the right to play the recordings (courtesy of UKQRM).

17/07/2011 A new page on other sources of radio interference (QRM) detailing how to identify interference, how to report it, and who to complain to when Ofcom fail to carry out their Statutory duties.

16/07/2011 Anas Patel from Leicestershire has emailed his story, now detailed on the It's Personal page, to highlight how neither the BBC nor Ofcom are willing to tackle his PLT interference problem.

23/06/2011 Daily Mail: Snouts in the trough: 'Independent' media regulator costs taxpayer millions and holds Middle England in contempt.

07/06/2011 Just when you thought it was safe to listen to the radio, Broadband over Power Line (BPL) rears its ugly head again! We hope the good people of Shap in Cumbria do not want to use their radios for anything important! The local electricity supplier has failed to learn from all of the other failed BPL deployments and is instead pushing ahead with a pilot project to obliterate the radio spectrum in Cumbria.

02/06/2011 The EMCIA have written an open letter to Prime Minister David Cameron regarding Ofcom's latest PLT statement. Download Issue 94 and read all about PLT!

27/05/2011 ITU Forum on Technical Compatibility between Power Line Telecommunication systems (PLT) and Radiocommunication Services, Geneva, 27 May 2011.

23/05/2011 A new video on Understanding the New Requirements of EN55022:2006+A1:2007

22/05/2011 Transcript of MP Mark Lancaster's House of Commons PLT adjournment debate with annotations and comments from Ban PLT.

18/05/2011 Mark Lancaster MP warns that technology meant to spread broadband access could jeopardise national security, as it endangers the radio spectrum.

18/05/2011 Articles on The Register and PC Pro and PCR-Online about GCHQ and PLT.

17/05/2011 PLT is a threat to national security! Do not believe us? Read it for yourselves.

15/05/2011 Ofcom recently released a collection of documents to strengthen its case for PLT being OK. Unfortunately for them, it appears to be digging them into a larger hole!

In light of the above documentation release, Mark Salter has filed another FOIA request to find out why Ofcom have done so.

04/05/2011 Hansard: Telecommunications Culture Media and Sport Written answers and statements, 27 April 2011.

04/05/2011 The Register: Powerline networking pops up in parliament.

04/05/2011 Slightly old news from the RSGB: Ofcom forced to release PLT test report.

03/05/2011 A new FOIA request against Ofcom.

29/04/2011 Powerline Technology is the future of digital

29/04/2011 A tweak of the site layout and the addition of social networking buttons. Feel free to spread this site via Delicious, Digg, Reddit, Slashdot, StumbleUpon, Twitter; and do not forget to click the Facebook like button!!

28/04/2011 Ofcom have released an updated statement regarding PLT: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/enforcement/spectrum-enforcement/plt/ If you have visions of a dog chasing its own tail, you are not alone! If it was not for us pesky radio users, PLT would not have a problem! The Electron, in our piece on personal experiences is not happy! He is not a radio amateur, he has complained to Ofcom (on numerous occasions), and he thinks it is unfair for Ofcom to single out one small group of radio users (and ignore Citizens' Band radio and shortwave listeners)!

11/04/2011 BBC Research & Development release their latest White Paper 195 : VHF emissions from PLT devices - First investigation of potential interference to broadcast reception.

01/04/2011 The City of Clearlake, California has stopped the installation of Smart Meters on the grounds of interference to Radio Amateurs and Emergency Services.

01/04/2011 Ban PLT in the news on The Register!

30/03/2011 Ofcom are liars and suppressors of the truth!

01/03/2011 Updated Links page with banner links for this site which you may use on your website.

25/02/2011 A new FOIA request against Ofcom.

05/02/2011 New page: It's personal! details experiences of those whose lives have been blighted by PLT and the costs they have been forced to endure!

05/02/2011 PLT will affect your ADSL speeds!

04/02/2011 A new video on our videos page showing interference to Citizens' Band.

04/02/2011 IEEE EMC Society SDCom Votes to Withdraw as Co-Sponsor of IEEE BPL EMC Standard

03/02/2011 Our thoughts are with our Australian cousins in Queensland as they fall back on Shortwave radio to broadcast advice during cyclone Yasi. We hope they can hear the emergency information above the PLT/BPL noise!

27/01/2011 Radio Amateur reports added to the tests page.

26/01/2011 A new page all about why EN55022:1998 has yet to be replaced with EN55022:2006.