[LeArc] ARLB050 ARRL Board requests policy recommendations to implement WRC-03 results

[Tony Coniglio]

> SB QST @ ARL $ARLB050
> ARLB050 ARRL Board requests policy recommendations to implement 
> WRC-03 results
> 
> ZCZC AG50
> QST de W1AW  
> ARRL Bulletin 50  ARLB050
> >From ARRL Headquarters  
> Newington CT  July 24, 2003
> To all radio amateurs 
> 
> SB QST ARL ARLB050
> ARLB050 ARRL Board requests policy recommendations to implement
> WRC-03 results
> 
> The ARRL Board of Directors has called on ARRL Chief Executive
> Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, and
> the ARRL Executive Committee to develop ARRL policy recommendations
> for an FCC filing to implement the results of World
> Radiocommunication Conference 2003 (WRC-03). ARRL President Jim
> Haynie, W5JBP, chaired the July 18-19 Board session in Windsor,
> Connecticut.
> 
> "The League, as the Amateur Radio representative in the United
> States, will, through its democratic process, review input from its
> members as to the impact and implementation of these results to the
> Part 97 rules," a Board resolution declared. A report on the policy
> recommendations is due next January. The Board expressed gratitude
> to the IARU and ARRL WRC-03 team for its "tireless and dedicated
> efforts in promoting Amateur Radio" and congratulated it for
> achieving the IARU's goals at the month-long international
> conference, which wrapped up in Geneva July 4.
> 
> Delegates to WRC-03 reached a compromise on a 200-kHz worldwide
> allocation--7000 to 7200 kHz--effective in 2009, with no change to
> the existing 300-kHz allocation in the US or elsewhere in Region 2.
> The conference also eliminated the requirement that amateur
> applicants prove Morse code proficiency to operate below 30 MHz,
> leaving it up to individual administrations to retain or drop Morse
> as an exam element. WRC-03 decisions also resulted in changes
> affecting international third-party traffic, guidelines for
> standards of competence of amateur licensees, and recognition of the
> licenses of visiting amateurs.
> 
> The Board also implemented some recommendations of the wide-ranging
> Final Report of the Volunteer Resources Committee to the ARRL Board
> of Directors--an Evaluation of the ARRL's Field Organization. The
> committee, chaired by ARRL Midwest Division Director Wade Walstrom,
> W0EJ, concluded that the state of the ARRL Field Organization is
> "fair," but not sufficient to meet the League's obligation to
> provide emergency communications, especially at the national level.
> 
> In light of the report, the Board called for a comprehensive system
> to enhance the communications capabilities of the Amateur Radio
> Emergency Service (ARES). There are situations, the Board
> said--especially given the League's new Citizen Corps partnership
> with the Department of Homeland Security--when ARES "must have the
> capability to pass traffic across the nation quickly and
> accurately."
> 
> The Board also called on all 71 Section Emergency Coordinators to
> develop, implement and maintain a comprehensive Section Emergency
> Plan by year's end. Additionally, the Board asked Sumner to formally
> establish leadership training courses as a part of routine Section
> Manager orientation.
> 
> In response to the so-called "Minute 56" report initiated at last
> July's meeting, the Board voted to initiate a process to revise ARRL
> band plans for amateur allocations between 902 MHz and 24.25 GHz.
> "New band plans will be developed using as a goal the full amateur
> deployment of each band," the Board said. The Board voted
> unanimously to authorize President Haynie--with assistance from
> Imlay and Technical Relations Manager Paul Rinaldo, W4RI, "to
> explore specific terms of expanded partnering plans with the
> National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC). Such
> cooperation could involve greater integration of amateur operation
> in the bands from 902 MHz to 24.25 GHz in public safety and homeland
> security communications."
> 
> Citing the Amateur Radio tradition of Elmering (mentoring) new and
> prospective amateurs, the Board okayed a resolution instructing the
> VRC to develop two or more viable options for an ARRL Volunteer
> Mentor program that would provide for "the promotion, support and
> growth of mentoring in Amateur Radio." The VRC is to present its
> options at the Board's January meeting.
> 
> Additional details are on the ARRL Web site. The minutes of the July
> ARRL Board of Directors meeting will be posted on the ARRL Web site
> as soon as they are available.
> NNNN
> /EX
>