FCC TURNS AWAY RESTRUCTURING PETITIONS FOR RECONSIDERATION

From the ARRL...



The FCC has declined to make any significant changes to the way it
implemented Amateur Radio "restructuring" last April. The Commission has
turned down several requests for changes in the Amateur Service rules
contained in five petitions for partial reconsideration of its Report and
Order WT Docket 98-143, released December 30, 1999. The ARRL was among the
petitioners.



In a Memorandum Opinion and Order released April 6, the FCC by and large
denied all petitions for changes to its restructuring Order--although it did
claim to grant one ARRL request--and it made some minor housekeeping changes
to the amateur rules.



Among the issues was a request from the ARRL and other petitioners that the
FCC continue to maintain records that indicate whether a Technician licensee
has Morse code element credit. The FCC noted that its current Universal
Licensing System software was modified to display a "P" (for Plus) in the
field that indicates former license class when a Technician Plus class
license is renewed. "This capability results in the amateur service database
being able to provide a de facto Technician Plus licensee database," the FCC
asserted in its MO&O. The FCC did not address how its database will
distinguish current Technician licensees who subsequently earn Morse code
(Element 1) credit. Those licensees have only a Certificate of Completion of
Examination (CSCE), which will never be reflected in the database, even upon
license renewal.



The FCC also decided to not extend Element 1 credit to all past licensees
who had ever earned it--something else the ARRL had asked for. Under current
rules, the holder of an expired Novice or a pre-February 14, 1991,
Technician license can get Element 1 credit. The FCC said that "most
examinees" who ever held a General, Advanced or Amateur Extra ticket also
once held a Novice or a pre-February 14, 1991, Technician ticket that grants
Element 1 credit.



Left out in the cold by the FCC's decision is anyone who went directly to
Conditional or General class without ever holding a Novice ticket. The FCC
also declined to extend permanent credit to Element 1 CSCEs held by
Technicians to obtain HF privileges. These CSCEs are good for 365 days for
upgrading purposes but confer only additional operating privileges for
Technicians beyond that time.



The FCC refused to reinstate the 20 WPM Morse code exam for Extra. The FCC
said that since restructuring went into effect nearly a year ago, "there
does not appear to be any decline in the proper operation of amateur
stations." The FCC also declined to ban the practice of allowing applicants
to retake a failed examination element at a single test session simply by
paying a second fee to the VE team. And the Commission did not go along with
requests to set the total number of questions at 50 for the Technician and
General class test and at 100 for the Amateur Extra test.



The FCC also declined to make any changes--at least for now--in the
arrangement of mode-related Amateur Radio subbands, as some petitioners had
requested. The FCC said it believed it should let the amateur community
"reach a consensus regarding a comprehensive restructuring of operating
privileges for all licensees" before making any changes.



Also denied were requests to: institute a new entry-level Communicator
license class in the Amateur Service; elevate former "Class A" operators
licensed prior to 1951 to Amateur Extra, instead of leaving them at Advanced
class; give Element 4 exam credit to examinees who'd held a Conditional,
General or Advanced ticket before November 22, 1968--when "incentive
licensing" became effective.



The FCC MO&O is available at <A HREF="http://www.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/wt98-143-recon.pdf">
http://www.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/wt98-143-recon.pdf</A>.