21 September 2001 A New Structure For Amateur Radio Licensing In The United Kingdom

The Radiocommunications Agency announced in September 2001 a series of changes to the radio amateur licensing regime, designed to make it more attractive as a technical hobby. The changes include lowering the Morse Code speed requirement for full licensees, amalgamating some licence categories, allowing trainees to operate while supervised before passing an examination and the introduction of a new Foundation Class licence.

For more than a hundred years radio amateurs have been at the forefront
of developments in telecommunication. In the current information and communication technology expansion, the Radiocommunications Agency and the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) have agreed that it is in the national interest that access to amateur radio be improved so that radio amateurs can continue to play a key role in these technologies.

Amateur radio offers:

	a source of ongoing investigation and innovation in radio communication;
	a way of drawing people into a technical activity which can result in them pursuing a career in engineering, so enhancing the technical skill base of the United Kingdom
	a source of emergency communications at times when conventional communications links are strained or out of action
	a contribution to international friendship; and
	a rewarding and challenging leisure activity

The current structure of licensing has been based on three levels, the Novice, Class A/B and the Full Licence. Both Novice and Full licences have two categories, one providing access to all amateur bands, the other restricted to those at 50 MHz and above.

It is hoped that it may be possible to simplify this structure after the World Radio Conference in 2003. In the meantime the following changes are being made to the amateur radio licensing structure:

UK Class A and Class A/B Licences

Earlier this year the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) recommended that the Morse requirement for their Class 1 licence (equivalent to a UK Class A) be reduced from 12 to 5 words per minute (wpm). This has provided the Agency with an opportunity to review the amateur radio licensing structure. To this end the Agency intends from 1^st October 2001 to reduce the Morse requirement for the Class A licence to 5 wpm and to incorporate the Class A/B into the Class A licence. Class A/B licence holders will be offered the choice of either retaining their existing M5 callsign or change to an M0 callsign.

Additionally, to encourage the practical aspect of amateur radio training, unlicensed trainees (on a registered training course) may be supervised by full licence holders to operate a station and contact other UK licensed amateurs. There will be no time limit on the duration of any message.

Novice Licence

With effect from 1^st October 2001 the Novice Amateur Radio Licence will be re-named the Intermediate Amateur Radio Licence. Intermediate (A) licensees will be allowed access to all amateur radio bands. Intermediate (B) will be allowed access to all amateur bands at 50MHz and above. All Intermediate licensees will be allowed 50 watts output in all bands except where a lower power limit already applies to Amateur (A) licensees, in which case the lower level shall apply.

Foundation Licence

The final change to the amateur radio licensing structure prior to WRC 2003 will be the introduction of a new "Foundation" licence at the beginning of 2002. This licence will provide access to most of the amateur bands, and restrict licensees to a maximum RF out put power of 10 watts RF output. Transmitting equipment will need to be commercially manufactured items, or properly designed commercial kits.

Study for the Foundation licence may be undertaken over a weekend, and is based on the tradition that amateur radio is a hobby learnt mainly through self-training. The Foundation syllabus is based on the concept of producing "safe and competent" radio amateurs.

	safe, in terms of understanding the personal safety issues involved.
	competent, in terms of understanding correct operating procedures and the need to ensure that transmissions do not interfere with other radio users, and being able to operate radio equipment efficiently and effectively.

With effect from 1^st October 2001, pilot courses will be run to evaluate the syllabus and training material, and the Agency expects the full scheme to be operational from January 2002. The Radio Society of Great Britain is working with the Agency to organise these pilot courses, and will be handling much of the routine administration of the training and examination process, with the Agency remaining as the licensing authority.

The Agency and the RSGB hope that by introducing this new licence level, amateur radio will become more attractive and accessible to both young and old, and that by taking this first step onto the licensing ladder, Foundation licensees will be encouraged to undertake a process of self training to acquire higher licence privileges in due course.

It is intended that from 1^st January 2004, a revised integrated structure of qualifications and examinations for amateur radio in the UK will come into effect.

Attachment:

Details of bands, modes and powers for the Foundation Licence.

The Schedule to Terms, Provisions and Limitations Booklet (Amateur Radio (Foundation) Licence

Notes to the Schedule

(a) In all frequency bands, high intensities of RF radiation may be harmful and safety precautions should be taken, particularly in locations to which people have access. Advice concerning safe levels of exposure to RF radiation is provided by the National Radiological Protection Board.

(b) Primary, permitted and secondary services

For the purpose of this Licence, frequency bands allocated to the Amateur Service on a primary basis cannot claim protection from undue interference from any other authorised services, such protection being afforded only to users whose frequencies have been registered nationally or internationally. In the United Kingdom, individual frequency assignments are not registered in the Amateur Service, except for beacons and repeaters. This applies equally to all bands allocated on a secondary basis where stations of the Amateur Service are also required not to cause undue interference to stations of a primary or permitted service to which frequencies are already assigned or to which frequencies may be assigned at a later date.

(c) Any modulation technique (except for pulse emissions) may be used for the types of transmission specified in the fourth column of the Schedule which are defined as follows: