Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Morse Requirement On The Way Out At WRC-03

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 20:28:54 -0400

From the official WRC-03 IARU report:

"Agenda item 1.7.1 (Article 25): ... It is clear that the outcome will be
to leave it to administrations' discretion whether or not to have a Morse
receiving and sending requirement. No administration participating in the
Sub-Working Group spoke in favor of retaining the Morse code treaty
requirement."

Cited: <http://www.iaru.org/rel030623.html>

======================================
From: "ARRL Letter Mailing List"
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 18:44:47 -0400
Subject: The ARRL Letter, Vol 22, No 26

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* +Morse treaty requirement on the way out

==>NO MORSE CODE CONTROVERSY AT WRC-03

Whatever else happens at World Radiocommunication Conference 2003
(WRC-03), there's no mystery about the delegates' direction regarding the
Morse code requirement. Morse code proficiency will disappear as a treaty
obligation for high-frequency access when the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU)-sponsored gathering under way in Geneva
concludes July 4.

"One matter on which there appears to be no disagreement is the Morse
requirement," said International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Secretary
(and
ARRL CEO) David Sumner, K1ZZ, in a report
<http://www.iaru.org/rel030623.html> on the second week of activity at
WRC-03. "It is clear that the outcome will be to leave it to
administrations' discretion whether or not to have a Morse receiving and
sending requirement." He said no administration participating in the
sub-working group spoke in favor of retaining the Morse code treaty
requirement.

The modification of Article 25.5 of the international Radio Regulations
cleared Working Group 4C on June 24. Working Group 4C is dealing with
this
and other proposals relating to Article 25. The modified text says,
"Administrations shall determine whether or not a person seeking a
license
to operate an amateur station shall prove the ability to send and receive
texts in Morse code signals."

It's possible but unlikely that the text would be tinkered with further
at
the committee level or even in the Plenary, which considers items for
adoption. Sumner said delegates continue to wrangle over other aspects of
Article 25, which defines Amateur Radio operation.

Adoption of the Article 25.5 modification would not mean the immediate
disappearance of the Morse requirement to operate on the amateur bands
below 30 MHz. Each administration, including the FCC, would then decide
whether or not to drop the requirement from its domestic regulations.
Some
countries have indicated a desire to retain a Morse code requirement.

Sub-working groups this week funneled their reports to larger working
groups assigned to tackle various pieces of the huge WRC-03 agenda. More
than 2600 delegates and other participants are attending the four-week
conference. For WRC-03, the IARU has fielded its largest team of
observers
at an ITU conference in more than a decade.
	...

Full reports on WRC-03 activities are available on the IARU Web site
<http://www.iaru.org/news-releases.html>.

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Radio Relay League--The National Association For Amateur Radio--225 Main
St, Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0200; fax 860-594-0259;
<http://www.arrl.org>. Jim Haynie, W5JBP, President.

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or
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to
The ARRL Letter and The American Radio Relay League.

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