I have not seen an ARRL press release on this yet, but the FCC has issued a Report and Order December 9 authorizing expanded use of the 60 meter band that was adopted at WRC15 10 years ago. Good to see the FCC acting promptly!! Other countries adopted the WRC15 allocation years ago. Please note there is a power limit in this new segment of 15 watts EIRP. That’s effective “Isotropic” radiated power so ERP is lower, a tad less than 10 watts.

I did NOT dive deep enough to see when this will be effective. Usually it must be published it the Federal Registry first, so don’t jump down there tonight and start operating in the new segment (like some US hams have done, violating FCC rules!!)

Here is the specific text from the R&O but you can read the full R&O here https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-25-60A1.pdf

B. Terrestrial Issues

1. Amateur Service in the 5351.5-5366.5 kHz Band

32. In this section, we make allocation decisions regarding amateur use of the 5351.5-5366.5

kHz band and the four discrete channels at 5332, 5348, 5373, and 5405 kHz that are outside of the band,

as well as the technical and operational characteristics amateurs must adhere to when utilizing the band

and the four discrete channels. The WRC-15 Final Acts allocated the 5351.5-5366.5 kHz band to the

amateur service on a secondary basis in all ITU regions and generally set a maximum radiated power at

15 watts equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP), equivalent to 9.15 watts effective radiated power

(ERP).113 In the WRC-15 Notice, the Commission sought comment on a number of proposals affecting

amateur use of this band, including whether to allocate the 5351.5-5366.5 kHz band to the Amateur Radio

Service on a secondary basis, whether the amateur service should keep the existing four channels at 5332,

5348, 5373, and 5405 kHz they use that are outside of the new allocation (known by amateurs as the 60-

meter band), whether use and power limitations should be applied to the band, and the appropriate station

class for use of the band, among others.114

33. Under current Commission rules, the 5275-5450 kHz band is allocated for Federal/non-

Federal shared use to the fixed service on a primary basis and the mobile except aeronautical mobile

service on a secondary basis.115 Footnote US23 provides the amateur service with a secondary allocation

on five discrete channels – each with a maximum bandwidth of 2.8 kilohertz and centered on frequencies

5332, 5348, 5358.5, 5373, and 5405 kHz.116 Current Commission rules also allow stations in the amateur

service to transmit on these frequencies with a maximum ERP of 100 W peak envelope power (PEP) –

over ten times more powerful than WRC-15’s EIRP limit

73 Joel W5ZN / ZF2ZN