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![Previous (earlier) Story](/images/sty-down.gif "The "Cage" is Back! W1AW Installs New/Old Antenna"){kind=small} Previous: The "Cage" is Back! W1AW Installs New/Old Antenna | ![Next (later) Story](/images/sty-up.gif "7 MHz "Realignment" Among WRC-2003 Advisory Committee Preliminary Views"){kind=small} Next: 7 MHz "Realignment" Among WRC-2003 Advisory Committee Preliminary Views |
By David Sumner, K1ZZ
ARRL Executive Vice President
May 3, 2001
Editor's note: Typically, only ARRL members get to read the "It Seems to Us ..." editorials that run each month in QST. We're posting this editorial by ARRL Executive Vice President David Sumner, K1ZZ, that will appear in the June 2001 issue of QST in the hope that both ARRL members and nonmembers might appreciate it and find it informative.
Many hams seem to think that the "Article S25" item on the 2003 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-03) agenda is limited to the Morse question--that is, whether the international Radio Regulations will continue to require that administrations verify the ability of their amateur licensees to send and receive Morse code messages before they can operate below 30 MHz. In the January issue we devoted this page to the Morse question; at least for now there is no need to revisit it. At its meeting in January the ARRL Board of Directors acknowledged that it is highly likely the international requirement will disappear after WRC-03. This will give each administration, including the FCC, the opportunity to decide--sometime after 2003--whether it is in their national interest to drop Morse from their domestic licensing requirements.
While many amateurs hold strong opinions about the Morse requirement, it is but one of 11 paragraphs in Article S25 of the international Radio Regulations. The other 10 paragraphs are also on the WRC-03 agenda, and it would be extremely short-sighted of us if we were not to review these other provisions and seek such changes as may be appropriate. It will be years, if not decades, before we get another chance.
Recognizing this, in 1995 the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) established the Future of the Amateur Service Committee (FASC) to initiate worldwide consideration of all of the provisions of Article S25. A discussion paper was released in April 1996. FASC submitted four detailed reports to the IARU Administrative Council between 1996 and 1998, and in October 1998 the Administrative Council agreed that IARU policy is to seek the amendment of Article S25 in accordance with the principles set out in the FASC Final Report. Anyone who is interested in the detailed history can find the related documents on the IARU Web site.
The Morse question aside, and not necessarily in order of importance, here is what the IARU is seeking from the review of Article S25 at WRC-03:
Retention of the requirement that administrations shall verify the technical and operational qualifications of any person wishing to operate an amateur station. The fact that all radio amateurs possess technical and operational qualifications distinguishes us from "consumer" radio services and ensures our ability to continue to serve the public interest.
Protection of the non-commercial nature of the amateur and amateur-satellite services. To that end, some limits on the content of amateur communications must be preserved and the definition of the amateur service as one carried out by "duly authorized persons interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest" must be retained.
Inclusion of specific provisions to recognize the disaster communications role of the amateur service. The IARU seeks a new provision urging administrations to take the steps necessary to allow amateur stations to prepare for and meet communication needs in the event of a natural disaster--something we take for granted in North America but that is far from universal. Another provision being sought would encourage administrations to recognize amateur licenses issued by other administrations in order to facilitate temporary operation; it is frustrating for amateurs to be needed in another country but to be unable to operate until paperwork gets done.
Relief from the third-party traffic prohibition. International communications on behalf of third parties are now prohibited unless special arrangements have been made between the concerned administrations. This provision, adopted in 1932 over strenuous IARU objections, was intended to protect the government telecommunications monopolies that existed at the time. In recent years the privatization of telecommunications has made the provision obsolete, yet it remains a stumbling block for welfare messages on behalf of the victims of disasters. The time is long past for it to be dropped.
Elimination of the "banned country list." The very first paragraph of Article S25 provides that "Radiocommunications between amateur stations of different countries shall be forbidden if the administration of one of the countries concerned has notified that it objects to such communications." This has led to many misunderstandings over the years and, in any case, is unnecessary. If an administration decides to prohibit its amateurs from communicating internationally, it can accomplish this much more effectively through its own regulations.
Elimination of redundant provisions. Several paragraphs of Article S25 simply repeat regulations that apply generally to all radio services with regard to transmitter power, purity of emissions, and station identification. In the interest of making the international Radio Regulations shorter and easier to understand they can be safely deleted.
Developed over a three-year period and with extensive worldwide consultation, the IARU draft of a new Article S25 contains just six paragraphs yet covers everything that is needed in the international regulations for the amateur and amateur-satellite services. The ARRL and other IARU member-societies will be urging that their administrations adopt the IARU draft as part of their proposals for WRC-03.
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