Archived Newsroom • Press Release |
|
Forum highlights radio interference fears
Non-ITU compliant home network equipment may cause problems
Geneva, 02 June, 2011
– Concerns that home networking products using power line transmission (PLT)
technology may cause interference with radio services led to a
Forum
last week in Geneva to address the issue. ITU’s own home networking
standard ITU-T G.hn was considered to have electromagnetic compatibility (EMC)
and mitigation techniques that go well
beyond those considered essential for protecting radio services.
Given the variety of electronic devices in our homes, strict EMC requirements
are imperative. Over-the-air broadcast services in particular could be subject
to interference from PLT systems.
The event took place in parallel with an interoperability event giving ITU-T
G.hn chipset vendors the opportunity to test their products, which will be on
the market later this year. It brought
together radio spectrum experts from national regulators, service providers, and
product manufacturers, as well as standards development organizations (SDOs) and
industry alliances including ETSI, IEC, IEEE, HomeGrid Forum, IARU, NAJO/IAU and
HomePlug.
The Forum successfully achieved its goal of agreeing on commitments and future
actions by all stakeholders to resolve interference issues in the interest of
consumers. A key conclusion is that ITU will act as the focal point for
coordinating other SDOs and industry alliances in order to agree further
developments.
“There are PLT products on the market that do not conform to the necessary EMC
standards, and this is very much a concern,” says Dr Hamadoun Touré,
Secretary-General, ITU. “We are fortunate in ITU to have telecom and radio
experts from both the private sector, government and regulators. Together they
have agreed the necessary requirements to ensure that products conforming to ITU
standards do not cause interference, which may have potentially serious
consequences. We would caution service providers and others against rolling out
technologies conforming to specifications that do not meet ITU requirements.”
John Shaw, representing BBC World Service, said at the meeting: "For
broadcasters, it is extremely important that products sold do not interfere with
the reception of programmes or reduce coverage. We applaud the efforts of ITU to
ensure international acceptance of the organization's stringent guidelines on
compatibility between electronic communication systems and the use of the radio
frequency spectrum." Similar views were also expressed by
representatives of the aeronautical and radio astronomy communities.
For
more information, please contact:
Toby Johnson
Senior Communications Officer
ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau,
|
|
About ITU...