[TxHam] Ham Radio licensees on the rise last 2 years...

[David J]

from ARRL Letter:

==> FCC LICENSE ACTIVITY ON THE RISE 

According to ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, there continues to be
a heightened interest in Amateur Radio following the FCC's elimination
of the Morse code exam requirement in February 2007: "The number of new
license applicants remains strong under the new Amateur Radio Service
rules. The following table chronicles all 14 FCC authorized VEC
organizations' new license activity over the last few years." In 2008,
the total number of US amateurs rose 1.2 percent, from 655,800 in 2007,
to 663,500 in 2008:


-----------------------------------
      New Amateur Totals
  2006 through November 2008
-----------------------------------
Month      2006    2007    2008
-----------------------------------
Jan        1274    1647    1755
Feb        1605    2435    2998
Mar        2531    3478    2816
Apr        1728    2673    3090
May        2283    2607    2562
Jun        1967    2281    2402
Jul        1401    1786    2077
Aug        1623    2183    2084
Sep        1357    1462    1763
Oct        1781    2109    2303
Nov        1993    2132    2197
Dec        1569    1935    2019
-----------------------------------
Totals:  21,112  26,728  28,066
-----------------------------------

Somma said that the number of General and Extra class upgrades is also
on the rise. "When looking at 2006 totals," she said, "we see that
upgrade applications for 2007 were up 286 percent; in 2008, they were up
146 percent over 2006. Requests for new club licenses also remain
strong. In 2008, we had 671 applications for club licenses come in,
while in 2007, there were 506 applications. That's an increase of 133
percent." 

Calling it a "ripple effect," Somma said that the number of amateurs who
want to be volunteer examiners and who want to teach Amateur Radio
classes is also going up. "Here at the ARRL VEC, we've seen a spike in
the number of applications from General and Extra class radio amateurs
who want to give back to their community by serving as examiners and
instructors," she said.

Somma further broke down the numbers to show the approximate number of
licensees per FCC license class:

Novice:              18,500
Technician:          322,500
General:            145,000
Advanced:            62,000
Extra:              115,500
Total US Amateurs:  663,500

"I can think back to the mid 1980s when there were approximately 450,000
US Amateurs," Somma recalled. "These are the highest numbers of General
and Extra class licensees I have ever seen." As of April 15, 2000, the
FCC no longer issues Novice or Advanced class licenses. "As expected,
the number of Novice and Advanced class licensees has decreased," she
said. "As I look toward 2009, I see Amateur Radio growing in a positive
direction."  -- Some information provided by Joe Speroni, AH0A
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