70 MHz on agenda at CEPT Athens

The prospect of a European secondary Amateur Radio allocation at 70 MHz was on the agenda on the CEPT Frequency Management (FM) Working Group meeting in Athens held from 11th to 15th February.

Unfortunately it looks as though the attempt to get an Amateur secondary allocation from 70.0 - 70.5 MHz added to the European Table of Frequency Allocations was unsuccessfull.

Dave EI3IO/G3SDL has posted a report to the 70 MHz forum at http://www.70mhz.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1285

It says:
In relation to previous posts a few comments on the situation. As reported earlier Ireland submitted a proposal to CEPT's Frequency Management Working Group, concerning the possibility of a secondary allocation to the amateur service in the band 70.0 - 70.5 MHz in Europe's Table of Frequency Allocations, the ECA.

A draft document was submitted by IRTS to the Irish Regulator soon after the close of WRC-07 last year. The prime goal for doing this was to secure regulatory recognition for the frequency allocation, which appeared to be a requirement before some countries would release the band to the amateur service.

10 supporting Administrations were needed to automatically write a new allocation into the ECA. Unfortunately the proposal was supported by only 6 Administrations Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Portugal, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. It will be obvious to all that some countries whose amateurs are active on the band did not support the Irish proposal for one reason or another. This was despite strenuous efforts by the IRTS, the RSGB's VHF Manager G4ASR and IARU to contact all member societies, in order that they would be in a position to discuss the Irish proposal with their national delegates prior to the CEPT meeting.

6 countries actively opposed the proposal, two of those opposing have provided some access to the 4m band, either during one weekend from a specific location or on an assigned frequency just below the lower band limit proposed by Ireland.

The good news is that as there was some limited support, Ireland can propose a note to be included in the ECA which reports that a number of CEPT countries are now allocating this band on a national basis to the amateur service. It is understood that the Irish administration will shortly be submitting an appropriate note for inclusion in the ECA. It is therefore hoped that this will be sufficient for those countries which need some regulatory ammunition to obtain a 4 metre allocation. Furthermore, the note may also provide an opening for another proposal or request from the IARU to CEPT for a 70 MHz allocation at some point in the future, hopefully with more support. And of course more good news is that we might also see Switzerland and maybe Liechtenstein and 4U1ITU on the band before too long.

Obviously some lessons can be learnt from this event in respect of the lobbying of national administrations. We might also discuss as a 4m community whether 70MHz.org should also turn into a group which actively promotes the band in Europe and beyond. A good model would be the efforts of SMIRK and the UKSMG in promoting access to the 50 MHz band around the World.

I'm sure everyone in Ireland and elsewhere would also like to give recognition and appreciation to Samuel Ritchie of Comreg, the Irish regulator for his excellent efforts in respect of amateur access to 70 MHz.

Dave EI3IO/G3SDL

The Eire 70 MHz proposal that was submitted to the meeting can be downloaded from the European Radiocommunicatiions Office (ERO) website by the following procedure:

1) Go to http://www.ero.dk/
2) From the "ECC Activities" drop-down menu select "Meetings Documents"
3) Ignore the Username/Password fields they are not required
4) In the field "Select Group" choose "FM Working Group"
5) In the field "Select Year" choose "2008"
6) Click on "Athens Feb"
7) Click on "Input Documents"
8) Select the tick box for "Revision of ECA concerning the band 70.0 - 70.5 MHz"
9) Click the "Download Selected" button at the top of the page

70 MHz Website
http://www.70MHz.org/