DIRECTV Partners With CURRENT Group to Enable Broadband and VoIP Services to Its Customers in Dallas, Texas. Under the terms of the agreement, DIRECTV will have access to CURRENT's BPL network, initially in the Dallas/Fort Worth BPL network that will cover approximately 1.8 million homes and businesses over the next several years.

What does this mean to all us Hams? BPL is a system that is being tested to provide broadband Internet service via powerlines. The system uses radio frequencies that do radiate into the air. They can cause interference to licensed services including Amateur Radio. This interference has been seen and documented in most of the BPL trial areas. BPL experimental licenses have been issued allowing some systems to operate between 2 and 80 MHz (megahertz). This particular band of frequencies are generally known as HF (which is actually 3 – 30 Mhz) or “shortwave” frequencies. Check these links for more information: