[SFDXA] Amateur radio call signs: VP8 for Falklands and VP0 for South Georgia, South Sandwich and BAT

[Bill]

    /Seen on Twitter: Bill W2CQ/


    Amateur radio call signs: VP8 for Falklands and VP0 for South
    Georgia, South Sandwich and BAT

Tuesday, October <https://en.mercopress.com/2021/10> 5th 
<https://en.mercopress.com/2021/10/05> 2021 
<https://en.mercopress.com/2021> - 18:10 UTC

It is proposed that the Falkland Islands Communications Regulator will 
administer these licenses on behalf of the governments of British 
Antarctic Territory and South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands 
<https://en.mercopress.com/data/cache/noticias/83640/0x0/map-vp.jpg> It 
is proposed that the Falkland Islands Communications Regulator will 
administer these licenses on behalf of the governments of British 
Antarctic Territory and South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands

Due to an administrative oversight in the new Falkland Islands 
Communications Ordinance implemented way back in 2017, new VP8 licenses 
for use in the former Falkland Islands Dependencies have not been 
available for some years now.

This has caused considerable difficulty to major DXpeditions and others 
wishing to operate from these remote regions, including the recent VP8PJ 
South Orkneys operation.

After several months of protracted negotiations with Ofcom (the UK 
equivalent to the FCC), the Falkland Islands Communications Regulator 
and the Governments of both South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands and 
British Antarctic Territory, there has been a major break-through and 
Ofcom has finally authorized the use of a new prefix for these former 
Dependencies as a solution to this oversight.

The new prefix is VP0 (Victor Papa Zero) and once legislation is enacted 
in the near future, it will be applied to the two British Overseas 
Territories of South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands and the British 
Antarctic Territory. The existing VP8 prefix will then apply exclusively 
to the Falkland Islands only.

The new VP0 prefix will apply to the following DXCC entities:

1. British claimed sector of the Antarctic mainland, including the 
Antarctic Peninsula & nearby islands
2. South Orkney Islands
3. South Shetland Islands
4. South Georgia
5. South Sandwich Islands

It is proposed that the Falkland Islands Communications Regulator will 
administer these licenses on behalf of the governments of British 
Antarctic Territory and South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands. It is 
also proposed that licenses under the new prefix will only be assigned 
three-letter suffixes (as opposed to the more usual method of first 
assigning callsigns with one or two-letter suffixes). For example, VP8yz 
would be re-assigned as VP0xyz, not the expected VP0yz. The reasons for 
this rather odd proposal remain unclear, given the very small number of 
stations active from these regions. In the meantime, all existing VP8 
callsigns as previously assigned under the old Falkland Islands 
Communications Ordinance for use in the former Dependencies (such as 
VP8PJ) remain valid for use until the associated licenses are 
revalidated and assigned new VP0 callsigns.

For further details, see the draft policy available for download on the 
Government of South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands website at:
https://www.gov.gs/amateur-radio-licences-policy-consultation/ 
<https://www.gov.gs/amateur-radio-licences-policy-consultation/>
Members of the Amateur Radio community are invited to comment on the 
draft policy and have until 18th October to do so via a link on the webpage.

There is no information regarding the matter presently available on the 
British Antarctic Territory Government or Falkland Islands 
Communications Regulator websites.
For more 
details,https://www.openfalklands.com/amateur-radio-call-sign-allocation-for-british-antarctic-territory-south-georgia-and-south-sandwich-islands 
<https://www.openfalklands.com/amateur-radio-call-sign-allocation-for-british-antarctic-territory-south-georgia-and-south-sandwich-islands>

  https://en.mercopress.com/2021/10/05/amateur-radio-call-signs-vp8-for-falklands-and-vp0-for-south-georgia-south-sandwich-and-bat

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/sfdxa/attachments/20211006/b7b40709/attachment-0001.html>