[PPRAANet] FW: [FISTS-Updates] FCC eliminates Code Exam Requirement

[Roger NØVR]

FYI

-----Original Message-----
From: fists-updates-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:fists-updates-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of nancy at tir.com
Sent: Friday, December 15, 2006 7:53 PM
To: fists-updates at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [FISTS-Updates] FCC eliminates Code Exam Requirement

>From the FCC Web site:

FCC MODIFIES AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE RULES,
ELIMINATING MORSE CODE EXAM REQUIREMENTS AND
ADDRESSING ARRL PETITION FOR RECONSIDERATION

Washington, D.C.  Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
adopted a
Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration (Order) that modifies the
rules for the Amateur
Radio Service by revising the examination requirements for obtaining a
General Class or
Amateur Extra Class amateur radio operator license and revising the
operating privileges for
Technician Class licensees. In addition, the Order resolves a petition
filed by the American
Radio Relay League, Inc. (ARRL) for partial reconsideration of an FCC Order
on amateur
service rules released on October 10, 2006.

The current amateur service operator license structure contains three
classes of amateur
radio operator licenses: Technician Class, General Class, and Amateur Extra
Class. General
Class and Amateur Extra Class licensees are permitted to operate in Amateur
bands below 30
MHz, while the introductory Technician Class licensees are only permitted
to operate in bands
above 30 MHz. Prior to todays action, the FCC, in accordance with
international radio
regulations, required applicants for General Class and Amateur Extra Class
operator licenses to
pass a five words-per-minute Morse code examination. Todays Order
eliminates that
requirement for General and Amateur Extra licensees. This change reflects
revisions to
international radio regulations made at the International Telecommunication
Unions 2003
World Radio Conference (WRC-03), which authorized each country to determine
whether to
require that individuals demonstrate Morse code proficiency in order to
qualify for an amateur
radio license with transmitting privileges on frequencies below 30 MHz.
This change eliminates
an unnecessary regulatory burden that may discourage current amateur radio
operators from
advancing their skills and participating more fully in the benefits of
amateur radio.

Todays Order also revises the operating privileges for Technician Class
licensees by
eliminating a disparity in the operating privileges for the Technician
Class and Technician Plus
Class licensees. Technician Class licensees are authorized operating
privileges on all amateur
frequencies above 30 MHz. The Technician Plus Class license, which is an
operator license
class that existed prior the FCCs simplification of the amateur license
structure in 1999 and was
grandfathered after that time, authorized operating privileges on all
amateur frequencies above
30 MHz, as well as frequency segments in four HF bands (below 30 MHz) after
the successful
completion of a Morse code examination. With todays elimination of the
Morse code exam
requirements, the FCC concluded that the disparity between the operating
privileges of
Technician Class licensees and Technician Plus Class licensees should not
be retained.