[ARRL-OK] Amateur radio:a voice in the storm

[Mark D. Conklin N7XYO]

7/13/05  The Hill - Washington DC

Amateur radio:a voice in the storm
By Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho)

Communication has taken many forms: beacon fires alerting assassins to
Agamemnon’s return to Mycenae; a lone Athenian runner covering 150 miles in
two days to request help from Sparta; Genghis Khan’s invention of the “pony
express”; Morse code; the telegraph, telephone, radio, television; and now
the Internet and increasing types of wireless communications.

Perhaps most striking are the massive and complex changes communication has
undergone in the past century. It boggles the mind to consider that 100
years ago radio experimentation was in its infancy and now we have the
ability to send digital information via electromagnetic waves across the
world or into outer space.

Yet, as anyone whose cell call has been dropped or who has simply
experienced radio interference while driving knows, the invisible waves that
carry our vastly increased communications load are not limitless.

Years ago, the federal government deemed it appropriate to regulate usage of
electromagnetic spectrum to ensure that those who use particular portions of
spectrum have the right to do so free of interference. It is a scarce but
renewable natural resource. Therefore, regulation is necessary to create
“highest and best use” allocations for frequencies.

The need for national regulation is further reinforced by the fact that
spectrum is a national asset bound by international rules and regulations.
It is impossible to “own” frequencies, but the federal government has
determined that a system of allocation and auction will produce a climate in
which the “highest and best use of spectrum domestically and
 internationally” can prosper in terms of innovation, efficiency and rapid
deployment.

In an era of increasing demand for spectrum, there is a small but vital
group of users whose allocations must be preserved.

One of the pioneers of modern communications was amateur radio. Amateur
radio operators explored ionospheric propagation for worldwide radio,
developed early mobile gear for automobiles and aircraft, created the first
civilian communications satellite, developed early linked repeaters,
established wireless local-area networks, developed the use of frequencies
well beyond high-frequency bands and created new antenna configurations.

Today, amateur radio still serves a vital purpose, especially in our
post-Sept. 11 world. Acting as volunteers, amateur radio operators provide
assistance in numerous disaster-relief efforts, from the terror attacks in
New York and Washington to floods in Texas, hurricanes in Florida,
earthquakes in Seattle and California and fires in the West and in my home
state of Idaho. Amateur radio operators assist in search and rescue efforts
and even place calls to Santa Claus on behalf of terminally ill children!
Many of the 650,000 operators in the United States take part in
emergency-preparedness exercises.

In the era of modern communications, we forget that cell-phone usage is
dependent upon the viability of communications towers. Any smart military
invasion strategy includes eliminating communications, and cell towers are
primary targets.

When the World Trade Center collapsed along with the cell tower atop the
building, mobile phones were rendered useless in the area. Amateur radio
operators stepped in and, from as far away as California, provided
communication lifelines for rescue workers and aid agencies. A number of
amateur radio operators’ organizations have memorandums of understanding
with the National Weather Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency,
the National Communications System, the Associated Public Safety
Communications Officers Inc. and the American Red Cross.

Since 1982, this vital and reliable communication source has lost 107
megahertz (the equivalent of 18 television channels, and 145 megahertz is in
danger of being reallocated. The 1997 Balanced Budget Act authorized
spectrum auctions, but amateur radio operators cannot participate in such
auctions. In light of increasing numbers of new technologies requiring
spectrum bandwidth and the ensuing competition by sources with larger
financial resources, bandwidth allocations must be preserved.

The Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act will ensure the success of this
vital link in our security communications infrastructure while continuing to
encourage the innovation and creativity that is the hallmark of this field.
The act requires replacement of any amateur radio spectrum that is
reallocated by the Federal Communications Commission or National
Telecommunications and Information Administration. It maintains spectrum
allocation flexibility by only requiring that the basic amount of spectrum
allocated to amateur radio operators be maintained.

Together with my colleagues Sens. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), Kit Bond (R-Mo.),
Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), I look forward to working
toward this bipartisan solution to the problem of lost spectrum for amateur
radio operators.

Crapo is the sponsor of the Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act of 2005.