Subject: [NEXTEL-1] WRC-03 Plenipotentiary Closes - New Int'l Amateur Reg's Released

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2003 21:40:41 -0400

WRC-03 has just concluded in Geneva, and here are two final documents. 
One is the IARU official report on WRC-03.  The second document is the
actual new ITU amateur rules Article 25.  As far as the ITU is concerned,
Morse is out (but our FCC is allowed to retain the requirement.)  The
rules on permitted and prohibited communications have been loosened
considerably.  Without a doubt, it is a major improvement, overall.  The
new amateur rules (but not commercial and other services' rules) take
effect almost immediately, on 5 July 2003.

I have attached two versions of each document; HTML and text.  And, I
have included the Web hyper links for verification.

Alan Dixon, N3HOE
Contributing Editor
Popular Communications

IARU press release: Report on the new ITU amateur regulations:

Attached - HTML format-
<WRC-03_IARU-Report-New-Regs.mht>

Attached ASCII Text format-
<WRC-03_IARU-Report-New-Regs.txt>

Web link to same-
http://www.iaru.org/rel030703att3.html

The official revised ITU international Radio Regulations - Article 25:

Attached - HTML format-
<ITU-Regs-Article-25-Rev_WRC-03.mht>

Attached - ASCII Text format-
<ITU-Regs-Article-25-Rev_WRC-03.txt>

Web link to same-
http://www.iaru.org/rel030703att2.html

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IARUWeb: The International Amateur Radio Union

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      ARTICLE 25
      Amateur services
      Section I -- Amateur service
      25.1 §1 Radiocommunications between amateur stations of different 
      countries shall be permitted unless the administration of one of the 
      countries concerned has notified that it objects to such 
      radiocommunications. 
      25.2 §2 1) Transmissions between amateur stations of different countries 
      shall be limited to communications incidental to the purposes of the 
      amateur service, as defined in No.1.56 and to remarks of a personal 
      character. 
      25.2A 1bis) Transmissions between amateur stations of different countries 
      shall not be encoded for the purpose of obscuring their meaning, except 
      for control signals exchanged between earth command stations and space 
      stations in the amateur-satellite service. 
      25.3 2) Amateur stations may be used for transmitting international 
      communications on behalf of third parties only in case of emergencies or 
      disaster relief. An administration may determine the applicability of this 
      provision to amateur stations under its jurisdiction. 
      SUP 
      25.4 
      25.5 §3 1) Administrations shall determine whether or not a person seeking 
      a licence to operate an amateur station shall demonstrate the ability to 
      send and receive texts in Morse code signals. 
      25.6 2) Administrations shall verify the operational and technical 
      qualifications of any person wishing to operate an amateur station. 
      Guidance for standards of competence may be found in the most recent 
      version of Recommendation ITU&#8209;RM.1544. 
      25.7 §4 The maximum power of amateur stations shall be fixed by the 
      administrations concerned. 
      25.8 §5 1) All pertinent Articles and provisions of the Constitution, the 
      Convention and of these Regulations shall apply to amateur stations. 
      25.9 2) During the course of their transmissions, amateur stations shall 
      transmit their call sign at short intervals. 
      25.9A Administrations are encouraged to take the necessary steps to allow 
      amateur stations to prepare for and meet communication needs in support of 
      disaster relief. 
      25.9B An administration may determine whether or not to permit a person 
      who has been granted a licence to operate an amateur station by another 
      administration, to operate an amateur station while that person is 
      temporarily in its territory, subject to such conditions or restrictions 
      it may impose. 
      Section II -- Amateur-satellite service
      25.10 § 6 The provisions of Section I of this Article shall apply equally, 
      as appropriate, to the amateur-satellite service. 
      25.11 §7 Administrations authorizing space stations in the 
      amateur-satellite service shall ensure that sufficient earth command 
      stations are established before launch to ensure that any harmful 
      interference caused by emissions from a station in the amateur-satellite 
      service can be terminated immediately (seeNo. 22.1). 

Page administrator: [email-masked] · Page revised 03 Jul 2003 02:04 PM ET 

IARUWeb: The International Amateur Radio Union

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      NEWS RELEASE
      International Amateur Radio Union
      P.O. Box 310905
      Newington, CT 06131-0905 USA
      FAX: +1 860 594 0259
      E-Mail: [email-masked]
      3 July 2003 
      For immediate release 
      New Regulations For The Amateur Services
      By Michael Owen, VK3KI 
      WRC-03 IARU Observer Team Member
      Introduction 
      On 4th July 2003 the World Radiocommunication Conference, Geneva, 2003 
      ended and on the following day, the 5th July 2003 the new international 
      regulations governing the amateur and amateur satellite services, Article 
      25 of the Radio Regulations, that had been adopted by the Conference come 
      into effect. 
      The language of many provisions in Article 25 as it was before 5th July 
      2003 was the language of many years ago, reflecting the priorities, 
      structures and attitudes of a time long gone. Provisions such as requiring 
      amateur stations to use "plain language", that communications be limited 
      to messages "relating to experiments", and remarks "for which by reason of 
      their lack of importance, the use of the telegraph service could not enter 
      into consideration", the prohibition of "international communications 
      emanating from third parties", though that provision "may be modified by 
      special arrangements between the interested countries", the requirement 
      for Morse Code, and a number of other provisions are to be found in 
      Article 8 of the General Radio Regulations annexed to the International 
      Telecommunication Convention, Madrid, 1932. 
      The IARU policy was to seek the simplification of the Regulations 
      affecting the amateur services by removal of regulations that were no 
      longer necessary, the removal of provisions that were redundant because 
      the subject matter was covered elsewhere in the Radio Regulations, the 
      updating of provisions to reflect today's attitudes and activities, the 
      identification of some standards for the qualification of amateurs and the 
      addition of provisions that encouraged amateurs to be given the ability to 
      provide emergency communications and to encourage the international 
      recognition of amateur licences. 
      The Radio Regulations, the international regulations, define the 
      fundamentals of the amateur services, and regulate international 
      communications between stations in the amateur and amateur-satellite 
      services. Administrations may and do make additional regulations, and 
      regulate in detail the amateur services in their country. 
      This article compares the previous regulations with the new regulations 
      and attempts to identify what is new and what is different. It does not 
      attempt to explain why the particular provision was adopted in a 
      particular form, which is another story told elsewhere. The numbers used 
      to identify provisions are the temporary numbers used by the ITU in the 
      course of the WRC. 
      Banned countries list 
      The first provision of Article 25, the so called "banned countries" list 
      is a provision that is to be found in the 1932 Regulations, and is almost 
      the same as the previous regulation except that it is now expressed 
      positively rather negatively. The provision reads: 
      25.1 Radiocommunications between amateur stations of different countries 
      shall be permitted unless the administration of one of the countries 
      concerned has notified that it objects to such radiocommunications. 
      That is a provision that has only a limited effect on most amateurs. 
      The balance of Article 25 is more directly relevant to the day to day 
      activities of radio amateurs. 
      What may be transmitted by Amateur Stations 
      The old international regulation relating to what an amateur station may 
      transmit was as follows: 
      "When transmissions between amateur stations of different countries are 
      permitted, they shall be made in plain language and shall be limited to 
      messages of a technical nature relating to tests and to remarks of a 
      personal character for which, by reason of their unimportance, recourse to 
      the public telecommunications service is not justified." 
      This dealt with two distinct matters, the content of messages and the 
      encryption of messages. 
      The phrase "messages of a technical nature relating to tests and to 
      remarks of a personal character" could be construed unnecessarily 
      narrowly, and did not reflect today's world, and the qualifying phrase 
      "which, by reason of their unimportance, recourse to the public 
      telecommunications service is not justified" was both vague and uncertain, 
      and certainly reflected a time when in most countries the common carrier 
      was a government monopoly. 
      So, the old provision was replaced by a new provision as follows: 
      25.2 Transmissions between amateur stations of different countries shall 
      be limited to communications incidental to the purposes of the amateur 
      service, as defined in No. 1.56 and to remarks of a personal character. 
      The term "incidental to" is wide, certainly not requiring a narrow 
      connection with the "purposes of the amateurs service" and as the 
      "purposes" of the amateur service set out in the definition are 
      "self-training, intercommunication and technical investigations", the 
      subject matter goes much beyond "tests". The new provision much more 
      accurately reflects what in fact is the subject matter of amateur 
      transmissions today. 
      Coded Messages 
      It is assumed that the phrase in the old provision requiring transmissions 
      to be in "plain language" meant something transmitted by either voice or 
      Morse that anyone could hear and understand. But today amateurs use many 
      codes, and so what is meant by the phrase "plain language" could become a 
      question in some countries. The language is no longer really appropriate. 
      And, in any event a total prohibition is not appropriate as encryption is 
      required for the control of satellites by command stations. 
      The requirement is not for "plain language" but a prohibition of messages 
      encoded for the purposes of obscuring their meaning. 
      So, the simple phrase in the old regulation was replaced by a new 
      provision, as follows: 
      25.2A Transmissions between amateur stations of different countries shall 
      not be encoded for the purpose of obscuring their meaning, except for 
      control signals exchanged between earth command stations and the space 
      station in the amateur satellite service. 
      The IARU had suggested that it would be desirable for the exception to be 
      expressed more widely than limited to satellite control signals, but a 
      number of countries resisted this for security reasons. Of course the 
      provision applies only to international communications. Therefore, 
      repeater control signals, which are almost invariably transmitted within a 
      single country and so are subject to national rather than international, 
      regulation, may be encoded unless prohibited by national regulation. 
      "Third party" messages 
      One of the most difficult areas was the old provisions dealing with so 
      called "third party messages." The provisions were as follows: 
      It is absolutely forbidden for amateur stations to be used for 
      transmitting international communications on behalf of third parties. 
      The preceding provisions may be modified by special arrangements between 
      the administrations of the countries concerned. 
      That prohibition of international communication on behalf of third parties 
      is very wide. What is a communication on behalf of a third party? School 
      children speaking to an astronaut is a communication on behalf of a third 
      party, as is participation in the Jamboree on the Air. The provision 
      inhibited preparation for disaster communication, and indeed, 
      international disaster relief communications unless a special arrangements 
      were in place between the two countries concerned. 
      The requirement that the prohibition could be modified by "special 
      arrangements between the administrations of the countries concerned" was 
      slow and clumsy, in many countries involving the ministry responsible for 
      foreign relations. 
      The IARU suggested the suppression of both provisions, taking the view 
      that each administration was fully empowered to regulate its amateurs, and 
      in particular to define what communication could and could not be carried 
      by an amateur station both nationally and internationally. 
      Of course, the fundamental requirement that the amateur service is non 
      commercial is to be found in the definition of the amateur service and 
      Article 25.2 set out above. 
      The new provision reads as follows: 
      25.3 Amateur stations may be used for transmitting international 
      communications on behalf of third parties only in the case of an emergency 
      or disaster relief. . An administration may determine the applicability of 
      this provision to amateur stations under its jurisdiction. 
      The exception to the blanket prohibition for cases of emergency and 
      disaster relief is important, and when read with the new provision 
      intended to encourage emergency communication by amateur stations will 
      hopefully lead administrations to adopt new regulations to facilitate such 
      activities. 
      This second sentence of this provision enables each administration to 
      define what is a communication on behalf of a third party, and with whom 
      the stations under its jurisdiction may exchange such communications. If 
      the other station's administration permits the same communication, then 
      the communication may be exchanged internationally. 
      The removal of the requirement for bilateral agreements between countries 
      is significant as the new regulation certainly provides the means by which 
      each administration can permit many activities, such as disaster relief, 
      practice for emergency communication, and educational communications to 
      take place internationally. 
      Morse Code 
      The old regulation that Morse was a requirement for the operators of 
      amateur stations below 30 MHz was found in a provision that read as 
      follows: 
      Any person seeking a licence to operate the apparatus of an amateur 
      station shall prove that he is able to send correctly by hand and to 
      receive correctly by ear texts in Morse code signals. The administrations 
      concerned may, however, waive this requirement in the case of stations 
      making use exclusively of frequencies above 30 MHz. 
      That was replaced with a provision giving each administration the right to 
      decide whether or not Morse is a required qualification as follows: 
      25.5 Administrations shall determine whether or not a person seeking a 
      licence to operate an amateur station shall demonstrate the ability to 
      send and receive texts in Morse code signals. 
      The alternative of simply deleting the old provision was rejected because 
      a number of administrations thought that the matter was so important that 
      a positive decision not to require Morse as a qualification was 
      appropriate. The effect is actually the same: Morse code is no longer an 
      internationally required qualification for an amateur licence, though an 
      administration may still require it. 
      The Qualification of Amateurs 
      Apart from the Morse code as a qualification, the previous regulation 
      provided: 
      Administrations shall take such measures as they judge necessary to verify 
      the operational and technical qualifications of any person wishing to 
      operate the apparatus of an amateur station. 
      This was replaced by a new provision as follows: 
      25.6 Administrations shall verify the operational and technical 
      qualifications of any person wishing to operate an amateur station. 
      Guidance for standards of competence may be found in the most recent 
      version of Recommendation ITU-R M.1544. 
      The reference to the Recommendation is a non-mandatory reference. That is, 
      an administration is not bound to follow it, but it is expected that all 
      administrations will take the Recommendation into account when setting the 
      qualification for an amateur licensee. 
      The Recommendation is very general, for example providing that any person 
      seeking a license to operate an amateur station should demonstrate a 
      "theoretical knowledge of: Radio regulations, international, domestic", 
      and under the heading "Radio system theory", "transmitters, receivers, 
      antennas and propagation and measurements." Consistently with the 
      decisions of the Conference, the Recommendation does not suggest any 
      requirement for a Morse skill. 
      That accords with the IARU position that the Radio Regulations should give 
      some guidance as to the qualification appropriate for an amateur licence, 
      but should not attempt to set a syllabus, as the diversity of environments 
      for which a standard must be set is very great. 
      The identification of a standard, the topics on which knowledge is 
      required, reflects one of the essential elements of the amateur service, 
      namely that an amateur is a person who has demonstrated an operational and 
      technical qualification, distinguishing that amateur from many other users 
      of the spectrum. 
      Power 
      The next provision in the new Regulations is: 
      25.7 The maximum power of amateur stations shall be fixed by the 
      administrations concerned. 
      That is almost the same as the old regulation, but with the words after 
      those words in the old provision being omitted, so the words "having 
      regard to the technical qualifications of the operators and to the 
      conditions under which these stations are to operate" are no longer part 
      of the provision. 
      The application of other provisions of the Radio Regulations 
      Again, Article 25.8 is a shortened version of the previous article, and 
      reads as follows: 
      25.8 All pertinent Articles and Provisions of the Constitution, the 
      Convention and of these Regulations shall apply to amateur stations. 
      That changes the reference to "general rules" to "pertinent" provisions of 
      the current ITU documents and omits the sentence "In particular, the 
      emitted frequency shall be as stable and as free from spurious emissions 
      as the state of technical development for such stations permits." which is 
      unnecessary as the requirements apply to amateur stations in any event. 
      In reality, there is no change arising from the different wording. 
      Probably the provision is unnecessary in any event, but it offered some 
      assurance to administrations that amateurs will abide by all pertinent 
      rules. 
      Call signs 
      Finally, a provision that is the same as the previous provision: 
      25.9 During the course of their transmissions, amateur stations shall 
      transmit their call sign at short intervals. 
      Emergency Communications 
      Then, a completely new provision is included in Article 25, a provision 
      that really needs no explanation. 
      25.9A Administrations are encouraged to take the necessary steps to allow 
      amateur stations to prepare for and meet communication needs in support of 
      disaster relief. 
      That provision should be read in conjunction with Article 25.3, and it is 
      hoped that administrations will make regulations that facilitate amateurs 
      preparing for emergency situations and providing communications in 
      emergencies and for disaster relief. This was an important IARU objective. 

      The international recognition of the licences of visiting amateurs 
      A further completely new provision is added to Article 25: 
      25.9B Administrations may determine whether or not to permit a person who 
      has been granted a licence to operate an amateur station by another 
      administration, to operate an amateur station while that person is 
      temporarily in its territory, subject to such conditions or restrictions 
      it may impose. 
      This provision has been interpreted by some to mean that an administration 
      may, if it wishes, permit a licensee from another country to operate in 
      its territory without issuing a licence, as would otherwise be required by 
      Article 18 of the Radio Regulations. There is some substance in 
      interpretation, as the provision deals with "permissions" and applies only 
      to a person temporarily in the territory of the other administration. 
      The interpretation of the provision is, of course, a matter for 
      administrations, but hopefully it is a provision that will encourage 
      administrations to allow amateurs to enjoy their hobby while travelling by 
      recognising the foreign licence. A global recognition would fill in the 
      gaps left by the CEPT Recommendation T/R 61-01 and the International 
      Amateur Radio Permit of the OAS. 
      The Amateur-satellite service 
      The final two provisions deal with amateur-satellite service, the first 
      being unchanged and reading as follows: 
      25.10 The provisions of Section I of this Article shall apply equally, as 
      appropriate, to the amateur-satellite service. 
      The next provision is the only operative provision in Article 25 dealing 
      with the amateur-satellite service. The previous provision read as 
      follows: 
      Space stations in the amateur-satellite service operating in bands shared 
      with other services shall be fitted with appropriate devices for 
      controlling emissions in the event that harmful interference is reported 
      in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 22. Administrations 
      authorizing such space stations shall inform the IFRB and shall ensure 
      that sufficient earth command stations are established before launch to 
      guarantee that any harmful interference which might be reported can be 
      terminated by the authorizing administration (see No. 2612). 
      The provision was unnecessarily complex, repeating obligations that are 
      found elsewhere in the Radio Regulations, particularly Article 22. 
      In the end, the following simplified provision was adopted: 
      25.11 Administrations authorizing space stations in the amateur-satellite 
      service shall ensure that sufficient earth command stations are 
      established before launch to ensure that any harmful interference caused 
      by emissions from a station in the amateur-satellite service can be 
      terminated immediately (see No. 22.1). 
      The new provision avoids the repetition in different words of regulations 
      that already apply to the stations, and simply requires that sufficient 
      earth command stations are established before launch. 
      The Definition of the Amateur Service 
      When, in 1996, the IARU commenced its examination of the issues raised by 
      placing Article 25 of the Radio Regulations on the agenda of a future 
      World Radiocommunication Conference, it very quickly saw that the 
      definition remained as relevant and appropriate as it had been over the 
      many years that it been a part of the Radio regulations. 
      It is worth setting out that definition for the sake of completeness: 
      1.56 Amateur service: A radiocommunication service for the purpose of 
      self-training, intercommunication and technical investigations carried out 
      by amateurs, that is, by duly authorised persons interested in radio 
      technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest. 
      Similarly, the definition of the amateur-satellite service remains 
      unchanged: 
      1.57 Amateur-satellite service: A radiocommunication service using space 
      stations on earth satellites for the same purposes as those of the amateur 
      service. 
      The Conference decided that no change was required to those definitions in 
      Article 1. 
      Conclusion 
      The Radio Regulations are the written result of the welding together of 
      the different views of different people with different languages and from 
      different cultures. It is no doubt easy to say that some of the provisions 
      could be expressed more elegantly, and that some of the provisions are not 
      necessary. 
      Of course, it is true that the narrower provisions of the old 
      international regulations have not really inhibited the amateur service in 
      many countries, with administrations preferring a liberal interpretation. 
      But in the long run, the amateur service cannot afford to have countries 
      ignore the international regulations. It is fundamental that the amateurs 
      have appropriate "operational and technical qualifications." A speed limit 
      that is unrealistic and not enforced is going to be ignored. What was 
      appropriate in 1932 may not be appropriate in 2003. 
      In the end it is suggested that the meaning of Article 25 is clear, even 
      if expressed in language different from the language suggested by the 
      IARU. What is important is the substance, not the form, and it is 
      suggested that the changes and additions made to Article 25 by WRC 2003 
      will meet the needs for the future of the amateur service identified by 
      the IARU. 

Page administrator: [email-masked] · Page revised 03 Jul 2003 02:28 PM ET