FCC licensees outside Region 2 to gain
early access to 7100-7200 Khz
The FCC has given licensees operating in FCC-administered territory in
Regions 1 and 3 early access to 7100-7200 kHz. The change was included
in a massive Report and Order (R&O) in ET Docket 04-139, a portion
of which dealt
with 40-meter worldwide realignment.
ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, said the ARRL was grateful to the FCC for
allowing amateur stations it regulates in
Regions 1 and 3 to gain prompt access to 7100-7200 kHz.
"This will make it easier for amateurs throughout the world to use
the very popular and crowded 40-meter band and will facilitate disaster
communications," Sumner said. He added that ARRL joins the FCC in
cautioning Commission-licensed amateurs outside of Region 2 to avoid interfering
with
broadcast stations in the 7100-7200 kHz band during the transition period,
which ends in 2009 per an agreement reached at WRC-03.
Sumner credited the efforts of Larry Gandy, AH8LG, and the American Samoa
Amateur Radio Association, who supported the ARRL's comments in the proceeding,
for helping to advance the proposal. Gandy argued that during a typhoon
that struck American Samoa, communication would have been significantly
improved had amateur operators been allowed access to 7100-7200 kHz.
Other countries also have made 7100-7200 kHz available to amateurs, generally
on a secondary, non-interference basis. Sumner said that even with constraints,
access to this band by amateurs in a growing number of countries "is
a significant benefit to the Amateur Radio Service," and he
said the League appreciates the Commission's efforts to extend this benefit
to its licensees, especially those in the US Pacific insular areas in
Region 3.
In a footnote to the R&O, the FCC said amateur operators may file
interference complaints if they receive interference from HF broadcast
signals directed to Region 2. "In the current seasonal schedule,
we observe that several HFBC signals are directed to the United States
in the band
7100-7300 kHz," the FCC noted. The FCC has not announced the effective
date of the rule change.
Source: ARRL Letter - courtesy of The
American Radio Relay League
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