FCC MODIFIES AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE RULES,
ELIMINATING MORSE CODE EXAM REQUIREMENTS AND
ADDRESSING ARRL PETITION FOR RECONSIDERATION
Washington, D.C. - Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
adopted a
Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration (Order) that modifies the
rules for the Amateur
Radio Service by revising the examination requirements for obtaining a
General Class or
Amateur Extra Class amateur radio operator license and revising the
operating privileges for
Technician Class licensees. In addition, the Order resolves a petition filed
by the American
Radio Relay League, Inc. (ARRL) for partial reconsideration of an FCC Order
on amateur
service rules released on October 10, 2006.
The current amateur service operator license structure contains three
classes of amateur
radio operator licenses: Technician Class, General Class, and Amateur Extra
Class. General
Class and Amateur Extra Class licensees are permitted to operate in Amateur
bands below 30
MHz, while the introductory Technician Class licensees are only permitted to
operate in bands
above 30 MHz. Prior to today's action, the FCC, in accordance with
international radio
regulations, required applicants for General Class and Amateur Extra Class
operator licenses to
pass a five words-per-minute Morse code examination. Today's Order
eliminates that
requirement for General and Amateur Extra licensees. This change reflects
revisions to
international radio regulations made at the International Telecommunication
Union's 2003
World Radio Conference (WRC-03), which authorized each country to determine
whether to
require that individuals demonstrate Morse code proficiency in order to
qualify for an amateur
radio license with transmitting privileges on frequencies below 30 MHz. This
change eliminates
an unnecessary regulatory burden that may discourage current amateur radio
operators from
advancing their skills and participating more fully in the benefits of
amateur radio.
Today's Order also revises the operating privileges for Technician Class
licensees by
eliminating a disparity in the operating privileges for the Technician Class
and Technician Plus
Class licensees. Technician Class licensees are authorized operating
privileges on all amateur
frequencies above 30 MHz. The Technician Plus Class license, which is an
operator license
class that existed prior the FCC's simplification of the amateur license
structure in 1999 and was
grandfathered after that time, authorized operating privileges on all
amateur frequencies above
30 MHz, as well as frequency segments in four HF bands (below 30 MHz) after
the successful
completion of a Morse code examination. With today's elimination of the
Morse code exam
requirements, the FCC concluded that the disparity between the operating
privileges of
Technician Class licensees and Technician Plus Class licensees should not be
retained.
2
Therefore, the FCC, in today's action, afforded Technician and Technician
Plus licensees
identical operating privileges.
Finally, today's Order resolved a petition filed by the ARRL for partial
reconsideration of
an FCC Order released on October 10, 2006 (FCC 06-149). In this Order, the
FCC authorized
amateur stations to transmit voice communications on additional frequencies
in certain amateur
service bands, including the 75 meter (m) band, which is authorized only for
certain wideband
voice and image communications. The ARRL argued that the 75 m band should
not have been
expanded below 3635 kHz, in order to protect automatically controlled
digital stations operating
in the 3620-3635 kHz portion of the 80 m band. The FCC concluded that these
stations can be
protected by providing alternate spectrum in the 3585-3600 kHz frequency
segment.
Action by the Commission on December 15, 2006, by Report and Order and Order
on
Reconsideration. Chairman Martin and Commissioners Copps, Adelstein, Tate,
and McDowell.
For additional information, contact William Cross at (202) 418-0691 or
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
WT Docket Nos. 04-140 and 05-235.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-269012A1.pdf
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