CEPT CPG finalises its positions for WRC-19 Category: Latest Published: Friday, 30 August 2019 09:31 Written by Don Beattie Hits: 1840 The CEPT Conference Preparatory Group met this week in Ankara, Turkey. Items of interest to the amateur service which were finalised were: - Agreement to a European Common Proposal (ECP) on allocating 50-52 MHz to the amateur service in Region 1 on a secondary basis with a footnote listing those countries where the amateur service will have a primary allocation in the band 50-50.5 MHz (WRC Agenda Item 1.1) - Agreement to an ECP on spectrum to be considered for International Mobile Telecommunications, which does not now include the primary amateur band at 47-47.2 GHz (WRC Agenda Item 1.13) - Agreement to an ECP that retains the current regulatory position in the 5725-5850 MHz frequency band which includes secondary allocations to the amateur service and the amateur-satellite service (WRC Agenda Item 1.16) - Removal of 144-146 MHz from a French proposal for study of additional spectrum for aeronautical applications. (WRC Agenda Item 10) - At the insistence of the European Commission, a WRC-23 agenda item was considered necessary to address the world-wide protection of Regional Navigational Satellite Systems from amateur emissions in the band 1240-1300 MHz. A draft WRC Resolution was agreed which underlines the importance of this frequency band to the amateur service and explicitly excludes the removal of existing allocations as part of the proposed agenda item. (WRC Agenda Item 10) - There was no change to the already agreed CEPT position on Wireless Power Transmission (WRC Agenda item 9.1.6). This states that no change is needed in the Radio Regulations to address the question of operating frequency for WPT-EV, but leaves open the question of spurious emissions from WPT-EV. Commenting on the outcome of CPG, IARU Region 1 President Don Beattie, G3BJ, said that the IARU team at Ankara (the only representatives of the amateur service at the meeting) had presented clear and convincing arguments for the amateur service position and he was pleased that regulators had recognised the strength of the amateur case. He expressed his thanks to everyone who had contributed to the outcome at CPG. The issues now move to WRC in Egypt in November for final resolution. IARU will be there. (Credit and thanks to GØJUR for posting the link to this report on another thread - WØPV)
Some hams lament and blame the current fad and spread of "deregulation" in politics, economics, and consequently, government affairs, as being a primary threat to frequency allocations, if not the very existence, of Amateur Radio. I do not completely disagree with that, its an obvious factor. But this is not an issue that Amateur Radio hasn't already faced in previous history, more than once, and has persevered, even grown. With that in mind as well as this being the eve of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Hiram Percy Maxim, I offer the following as an example. It is one of the prefaces to the essential book 200 Meters And Down - The Story of Amateur Radio by Clinton B. DeSoto. The added emphasis and detail is mine. DEDICATORY PREFACE I well remember the battle in which Hiram Percy Maxim joined with me as Secretary of Commerce in setting apart definitely and for all time certain segments in the radio range and dedicating them for the perpetual use of the amateurs. The commercial value of these wavelengths was well recognized at the time and great pressures were brought to bear to allot them to commercial use. Mr. Maxim's sturdy mobilization of the thousands of amateurs contributed greatly to saving this field, which has now extended into world-wide use. The amateurs have performed many signal acts of public service not alone in the field of experiment and research but in the actual transmission of vital messages. Their art has added to the joy of life to literally hundreds of thousands of men, women, boys and girls over the whole nation. Their international communications have a value in bringing a better spirit into the world. I consider it an honor to join in any tribute to the memory of Hiram Percy Maxim. HERBERT HOOVER (31st President of the USA, Republican) Palo Alto, Calif., September 17, 1936.
I am one of those, and this is because I have experienced its effects at close range. To start with, amateur radio is completely dependent on regulation for its very existence. Try to imagine for a minute a situation where all spectrum regulation suddely vanishes, leaving us to "Wild-West" , "Might makes Right" or "Dog-eat-dog" scenarios when it comes to spectrum privileges. Amateur radio would be shoved out of the way from the more attractive parts of spectrum in no time, and there would be no recourse, legal or otherwise. This was what the great Hiram Percy Maxim understood, and he joined forces with Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover in the mid 20s. Hoover, who was a quite capable engineer and administrator but a lousy political figure, made up some early spectrum regulation, "the Hoover Plans" which became the template for the first really international spectrum allocation conference in Washington 1927. Here the Hoover/ARRL plan for amateur radio spectrum was able to be "sold" to the rest of the world's countries. The 1927 Conference came at exactly the right time,just before the real breakthrough of HF broadcasting and point-to-point circuits. Had it come just a year or two later it is very likely that the commercial pressure would have reduced the global amateur spectrum to just nothing. Hoover, in an indirect way, also became influential in making amateur radio grow. His actions at the onset at the beginning of the Great Depression made the economic down-turn worse, which in a strange way increased the number of radio amateurs grow in the early/mid 30s when millions of jobless went idle and looked for a cheap pastime. In the even greater perspective, the Great Depression lead to the downfall of the democracies in Europe and to the outbreak of WW2. The Allied victory in WW2 saved international amateur radio, which otherwise would have lead a very precarious existence if the dictatorships would have prevailed. Measures were in the making at the 1938 Cairo conference to radically curtail amateur radio privileges, and if the war had not broken out it would in the end have eliminated international amateur radio, which was "barely tolerated" pre-war in the great majority of countries. Post-WW2, the 1947 Atlantic City conference confirmed the generally positive view of amateur radio that were held by the victors in WW2, and the resulting regulations aided to confirm this. Amateur radio got vastly expanded privileges in most countries, and was elevated from "barely tolerated" to "supported" status. The Cold War made this even more accentuated. At the 1959 Geneva World Radio Conference, amateur radio had a "close shave", but actions from the "Great Powers" to calm down the spectrum demands from the development countries were ultimately successful. Since 1947, amateur radio has been resting on old laurels, and living off the goodwill capital that WW2 netted. However, the world around has changed. and when telecom markets were deregulated, and value was put on spectrum, the poker hand of amateur radio has been viewed repeatedly. This has coincided with less and less interest from the regulators about amateur radio, which often is seen as a waste of resources that contribute nothing. The days of being "barely tolerated" are back again. Deregulated spectrum administrations, run by lawyers and MBA:s, have no clue about the glorious past of amateur radio, and regard it mostly as some curiosity or "living museums" comparable to museum steam railways. "Time will tell" 73/ Karl-Arne SM0AOM
Hi Karl, Actually the growth of U.S. ham radio in the 30's was directly tied into the growth of jobs--from radio broadcasting-- during the Depression. Hams were a pre-qualified group of expertise. There certainly was a huge pool of listeners who dabbled in radio, but few became hams. Hams, in a relative sense, and if one had to generalize, had it pretty cushy in the Depression: that is, most had jobs! 73 Chip W1YW
I believe that W1HDQ who actually lived through this period made quite accurate statements about the state of amateur radio during the Great Depression: Radio amateurs may have generally been less affected by the economic downturn, but when unemployment reached 25% in 1933, they also felt the crisis. Nevertheless, the number of amateurs in the US grew from 16,829 to 46,850 in the period between 1929 and 1936. 73/ Karl-Arne SM0AOM
Gosh all the weeping and gnashing of teeth and silly petitions and there was nothing at all to worry about. Drama trauma.
Oh, there was most certainly something to worry about. Silly petitions notwithstanding, a response was required and was executed. Spectrum doesn't defend itself.