Misleading and incorrect rumors surround IARU Region 2 band plan

Misleading and incorrect rumors are surrounding the recently revised band plan of IARU Region 2, adopted at its triennial conference in Brazil in September.

The following statement was authorized by ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN.

During the conference, held September 10-14 in Brasilia, representatives from IARU Region 2 societies met in committees prior to a final plenary session and adopted recommendations concerning a number of items important to Amateur Radio in the region. These included plans to
improve emergency communication, enhance education and reduce interference to national emergency nets, as well as revising the Region 2 HF band plan.

The revised Region 2 band plan for 160-10 meters takes effect January 1, 2008. The band plan is based on the band plan adopted by IARU Region 1 at its conference in Davos,
Switzerland in September 2005.

IARU regional band plans have been in existence for many years. They are developed, reviewed and approved at regional conferences of the IARU Member-Societies. The band plans provide voluntary guidelines and recommendations for good operating practice that are intended to assist amateurs in making the most effective use of our limited frequency allocations. They are not restrictions and carry no regulatory authority.

Unlike the US, where the FCC's Part 97 rules regulate the frequencies allocated to the Amateur Radio Service by emission designator, many countries do not have government-regulated sub-bands within their amateur allocation. Because of this, the national Amateur Radio
societies in these countries look to a band plan to provide guidance for the location of operating preferences. In such cases, these countries are urged to promote incorporation or recognition of a band plan into their regulations. In the United States, however, ARRL's band plans will continue to provide guidance for recommended operating preferences
including the 160 meter band plan that was revised in 2001 on the basis of membership input.

One virtue of voluntary band plans is that they are more flexible and can be amended more easily than the FCC rules; writing them into the rules would be counterproductive. As voluntary guidelines, the band plan cannot by definition be "more severe" than regulations; however, if the band plan did not suggest an operating pattern that is a subset of the
regulations, it would serve no purpose.

There is also a mistaken assumption that the new IARU Region 2 band plan is an ARRL initiative seeking regulation by bandwidth. It is not, nor is it in any way a vehicle to achieve regulation by bandwidth.

It happens that the ARRL's "regulation by bandwidth" petition, the now-withdrawn RM-11306, also drew on the Region 1 band plan. This is acknowledged on page 10 of the petition . The similarities between RM-11306 and the Region 2 band plan are the result of having some common roots, but the two are not otherwise related.

While a number of Amateur Radio organizations and publishers support and agree with the ARRL on the concept of regulation by bandwidth as an essential element to the orderly introduction of new digital modes into the HF bands, ARRL will not be pursuing a rulemaking until some degree of consensus can be achieved in the amateur community.

ARRL has conducted an open process of soliciting input regarding matters of importance to the Amateur Radio Service. That will continue prior to the submission of any proposals for future regulatory changes to improve the Amateur Radio Service.

As one of the 39 Member-Societies of IARU Region 2, the ARRL will, as always, continue to openly work to improve the Region 2 band planning process prior to the next conference and give its members ample opportunity to offer comments and suggestions.

Members may provide input to their elected representative (identified on page 15 of QST), or to our Ad-hoc Band Plan Committee and e-mail address that was established in 2006 at bandplan@arrl.org.

The American Radio Relay League

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