[HCRA] Partial on the rule change

[Jim Harrington]

FCC Proposes to Drop Morse Code Requirement for All License Classes

NEWINGTON, CT, July 20, 2005--The FCC has proposed dropping the 5 WPM Morse
code element as a requirement to obtain an Amateur Radio license of any
class. The Commission recommended the change to its Part 97 Amateur Service
rules in a Notice of Proposed Rule Making .
in WT Docket 05-235. Any rule changes proposed in the NPRM would not become
final until the FCC gathers additional public comments, formally adopts any
changes to its rules and concludes the proceeding by issuing a Report and
Order (R&O) spelling out the changes and specifying an effective date.
That's not likely to happen for several months. The FCC declined in its
NPRM to go forward with any other suggested changes to Amateur Service
licensing rules or operating privileges beyond elimination of the Morse
requirement.

"Based upon the petitions and comments, we propose to amend our amateur
service rules to eliminate the requirement that individuals pass a
telegraphy examination in order to qualify for any amateur radio operator
license," the FCC said in its NPRM, released July 19. This week's NPRM
consolidated 18 petitions for rule making from the amateur
community--including one from the ARRL--that proposed a wide range of
additional changes to the amateur rules. The FCC said the various petitions
had attracted 6200 comments from the amateur community, which soon will
have the opportunity to comment again--this time on the FCC's proposals in
response to those petitions.

The Commission said it believes dropping Element 1--the 5 WPM Morse
examination--would "encourage individuals who are interested in
communications technology, or who are able to contribute to the advancement
of the radio art, to become amateur radio operators." The FCC said it also
would eliminate a requirement it believes "is now unnecessary and that may
discourage" current licensees from advancing their skills, and that it
would "promote more efficient use" of current Amateur Radio spectrum.

The FCC cited changes in Article 25 of the international Radio Regulations
adopted at World Radiocommunication Conference 2003 as the primary reason
to go forward with eliminating Morse code as an Amateur Radio licensing
requirement in the future. Among other changes, WRC-03 deleted the Morse
testing requirement for amateur applicants seeking HF privileges, leaving
it up to individual countries to determine whether or not they want to
mandate Morse testing. Several countries already have dropped their Morse
requirements.

ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, said he was not surprised that the FCC
proposed altogether scrapping the Morse code requirement. The League and
others had called for retaining the 5 WPM requirement only for Amateur
Extra class applicants. Sumner expressed dismay, however, that the FCC
turned away proposals from the League and other petitioners to create a new
entry-level Amateur Radio license class.

"We're disappointed that the Commission prefers to deny an opportunity to
give Amateur Radio the restructuring it needs for the 21st century," he
said. "It appears that the Commission is taking the easy road, but the easy
road is seldom the right road."