SB QST @ ARL $ARLB026   
   ARLB026 Outcome for 5 MHz at WRC-15 Remains in Limbo   
      
   ZCZC AG26   
   QST de W1AW   
   ARRL Bulletin 26  ARLB026   
   > From ARRL Headquarters   
   Newington CT  August 26, 2015   
   To all radio amateurs   
      
   SB QST ARL ARLB026   
   ARLB026 Outcome for 5 MHz at WRC-15 Remains in Limbo   
      
   With the deadline to submit proposals to World Radiocommunication Conference   
   2015 (http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-R/conferences/wrc/2015/Pages/default.aspx) now   
   less than 2 months away, it's still unclear how at least one agenda item of   
   importance to the Amateur Radio community will fare. That is agenda item 1.4,   
   which calls on the delegates to consider a secondary Amateur Radio allocation   
   at 5 MHz (60 meters). In the US and in most other countries that have   
   privileges there, ham radio has a set of fixed channels at 5 MHz - not   
   necessarily the same from one country to the next, although most are common.   
      
   As ARRL Chief Technology Officer Brennan Price, N4QX, explained last spring   
   following the second Conference Preparatory Meeting (CPM), the agenda item 1.4   
   proposals at the CPM were "all over the map - ranging from no change to an   
   expansive allocation of 5275-5450 kHz, with explicit suggestions of 15 kHz and   
   100 kHz in between, and a few methods with details to be filled in later." As   
   Price summarized at the time, "[T]here is a wide divergence of opinion, and no   
   certainty as to the outcome."   
      
   In his July 2015 report to International Amateur Radio Union Region 3   
   Conference to be held this October in Indonesia, ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ,   
   said that while the US is "generally supportive" of the Amateur Radio and   
   Amateur-Satellite services at WRCs and in other International Te   
   ecommunication Union (ITU) venues, "it has been difficult to gain support from   
   the federal government side for agenda item 1.4." The ARRL is a member of IARU   
   Region 3 to represent the interests of FCC-licensed radio amateurs residing in   
   Guam; the Northern Marianas; American Samoa; Baker, Howland, Jarvis, and Wake   
   islands; Palmyra Atoll, and Kingman Reef.   
      
   When he submitted the report to IARU R3 in July, Sumner had said that the best   
   ARRL could hope for in the US position was a 25 kHz secondary allocation at 5   
   MHz, "and only then if this becomes the CITEL Inter-American Proposal (IAP),"   
   he explained. CITEL completed its work earlier this month and will put forward   
   an IAP for a 175 kHz secondary allocation at 5275-5450 kHz, with support by up   
   to a dozen countries. That's not a proposal the US or Canada could support,   
   however. Sumner noted that as of now, only one formal proposal for agenda item   
   1.4 has been submitted, and it calls for no change at 5250-5450 kHz. It came   
   from the Regional Commonwealth in the Field of Communications (RCC), the   
   regional telecommunications organization made up primarily of the former   
   Commonwealth of Independent States countries of which Russia is the largest.   
      
   Other regional telecommunication organizations still have not submitted formal   
   proposals. Sumner said this week that it's not possible to predict what might   
   happen at the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications   
   Administrations (CEPT) meeting in a few weeks. CEPT is the umbrella   
   organization for 48 European nations.   
      
   "We appreciate the strong support from so many Latin American and Caribbean   
   administrations and remain hopeful that a favorable consensus can be reached   
   in Geneva in November," Sumner said.   
      
   In Europe, Hungary's telecommunications regulator NMHH has begun issuing   
   temporary permits to radio amateurs there to operate in the band 5350-5450 MHz   
   on a secondary basis for research. The permits are valid for 3 months, and   
   holders may reapply after that. According to the Dutch Amateur Radio   
   Association (VERON), telecommunication regulator Agentschap Telecom is   
   expected in September to release 5350-5450 kHz to radio amateurs on a secondary   
   basis for all operating modes. The primary users of the band, which include   
   the Netherlands military, already have agreed to the allocation. Several other   
   European countries already have 60 meter allocations.   
      
   WRC-15 will take place November 2-27 in Geneva.   
      
   NNNN   
   /EX   
      
   )\/(ark   
      
   ... Of course, coffee *is* one of the major vitamins   
   ---   
    * Origin:  (1:3634/12.73)