Swedish hams now licence exempt. Why not VK?

[VK4WDM]

In the Southgate ARC news (always a good read) it is reported that AR in Sweden is now "license exempt" and all that is required to get on the air is a certificate of proficiency and a call sign that are issued by the Swedish Amateur Radio Society.

I know I am poking the bear, but if it can be done in Sweden, why can't the same thing be done in VK? 

I have been actively promoting ham radio among a group of retirees that I belong to but the most common issue for them is the cost of obtaining the license and the annual fee thereafter.  You might say that compared with a lot of recreational things, these costs are not high, but almost all of them are only on the aged or service pension and don't need the impost of another annual fee.

Would the wheels really fall off the ham radio cart and the ionosphere fall down, if individual licenses were not required in VK?

I have noticed that there maybe a possible downside to the Swedish decision though. Another press release says that output power has been reduced to 200 watts for license-exempt stations but I don't know how high it was before.

73

Wayne VK4WDM

[VK5TM]

More info here:

http://www.arrl.org/news/swedish-telecom...than-200-w

It mentions 1kW as the maximum allowable.

[VK3RX]

From what I've read, with at least some countries that have gone licence-free the amateurs have since said 1) it didn't do a thing towards increasing the numbers, they are still dropping, and 2) they've complained about the loss of rights and action from their respective radcom authorities.

One post I dug up (from guess where):

http://www.vklogger.com/forum/viewtopic....ree#p59715

[VK5TM]

With reference to 2), the lack of action by various radcom authorities, this has been going on for longer than there has been free licenses.

Our own ACMA is not really interested unless it is us causing problems with/to the commercial/services sector.

Most of it can be attributed to the reduction in funding of the various bodies around the world.

Even the FCC, which is probably the most proactive agency in the world in regard to ham activity, went through a long period of doing nothing and even now there is only the occasional spurt in activity.

I always wonder, considering how inefficient Government bureaucracy is, whether the cost of collecting our license fee is more than than what is collected. I suspect it is.

That would make an argument for either some form of free license or initial fee and then license for life.

[VK4ADC]

From text edition for SEP 30 2018 - VK NATIONAL NEWS BROADCAST ON VK1WIA : http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/wianews/

Also in MP3 edition of news available at: http://www.wia-files.com/podcast/wianews-2018-09-30.mp3



Swedens Telecommunications Regulatory Agency to Require Fee to Run More than 200 W

 We have more on our recent story from Sweden, effective November 1, radio amateurs in Sweden who want to run more than 200 W PEP in certain Amateur Radio allocations will have to apply for a transmitter license to do so and pay a yearly fee.

 Swedens telecoms agency PTS has announced a modified listing of license-free transmitters that spells out the changes for Amateur Radio and other services.

 Sweden eliminated Amateur Radio licenses in 2004, and Amateur Radio in Sweden is permission free, but prospective radio amateurs still must pass an examination. A certificate and a call sign, valid for life, are issued without any future fees. Up until now, the maximum permitted power on most HF bands has been 1 kW with no additional authorization required.

 It will be interesting to see how many active [Swedish] operators will apply for high-power permits, said Henryk Kotowski, SM 0 JHF, who alerted ARRL to the release of the official PTS order. I will not." There is a general trend to use less power and smarter, efficient modes. He said.

 Under the amended regulations, radio amateurs would have to apply for permission to run more than 200 W on 160 (1,810  1,850 kHz only), 80, 40, 20, 17, 15, 12, 10, and 2 meters, as well as 70 centimetres, and the 1.2, 5.6, 10, 24, 47 GHz, and higher Amateur Radio allocations.