OFCOM Funding and Amateur Radio Defence Fund raised at Region 12 Talks

The following questions were put at the recent RSGB Region 12 meetings on Amateur Radio Licensing.

Question 1a: It is understood that all the work done by Ofcom's Amateur Radio Division, (with the possible exception of Individual Amateur Licensing pending current discussions) will be done by the RSGB from the 1st Jan 2006 and that Ofcom will be forwarding all Amateur Radio enquiries directly to the RSGB. Will Ofcom provide any funding to do this?

Question 1b: Up until recently Ofcom were paying the RSGB £30,000 a year to carry out the administration of repeater and data links licences. Will this level of funding continue and if so will the RSGB be receiving any additional funding from Ofcom to carry out any extra work?

Answer 1a/b: No funding will be provided by Ofcom for doing any of this work. All such subsidies are being withdrawn.

Question 2: The ARRL is raising money to defend the spectrum? Does the RSGB think it should do something similar? (Maybe we will need to defend some of the spectrum when the Olympics come around in 2012?)

Answer 2: Things are on a much different scale in the USA and some amateurs such as The Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh WB6ACU pay huge amounts into such funds - the kind of donations that UK Amateurs only dream about winning! However, if a need arose in the UK to deal with a particular issue the RSGB would regard a "fighting fund" appeal as one way of dealing with the situation. Regarding the Olympics, the RSGB will be looking to play a significant role in communications provision although ideas and thinking are, naturally, at a very early stage.

Question 3: What was the outcome of Tuesday's (12th July) RSGB - Ofcom meeting?

Answer 3: The meeting was regarded as pretty unsatisfactory, it was viewed as something of a "fishing trip" by Ofcom to find out what was happening in the RSGB camp. One thing that did emerge was that although Ofcom had a vision of the future, there was absolutely no planning on their part about how they would actually get there. An example quoted was that no consideration has so far been given to how any new licensing system would validate the examination credentials of new applicants.

Finally, the theme of the Region 12 talks in Maidstone and Peterborough are summed up in the "Objective Document" Murray G6JYB was kind enough to put on the RSGB Region 12 Website http://www.rsgb-region-12.org.uk/

Best regards. Phillip Brooks G4NZQ
RSGB Region 12 Manager

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