No Morse Code Controversy at WRC-03

NEWINGTON, CT, Jun 24, 2003--Whatever else happens at World Radiocommunication Conference 2003 (WRC-03), there's no mystery about the delegates' direction regarding the Morse code requirement. Morse code proficiency will disappear as a treaty obligation for high-frequency access when the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)-sponsored gathering under way in Geneva concludes early next month.

"One matter on which there appears to be no disagreement is the Morse requirement," said International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Secretary (and ARRL CEO) David Sumner, K1ZZ, in a report on the second week of activity at WRC-03. "It is clear that the outcome will be to leave it to administrations' discretion whether or not to have a Morse receiving and sending requirement. No administration participating in the sub-working group spoke in favor of retaining the Morse code treaty requirement."

Sumner reports that the wording to modify Article 25.5 of the international Radio Regulations on June 24 cleared Working Group 4C, which is dealing with this and other proposals relating to Article 25. It says, "Administrations shall determine whether or not a person seeking a license to operate an amateur station shall prove the ability to send and receive texts in Morse code signals."

Sumner said it's possible but unlikely that the text would be tinkered with further at the committee level or even in the Plenary, which considers items for adoption. Sumner said delegates continue to wrangle over other aspects of Article 25, which defines Amateur Radio operation.

Some 100 delegates and other participants prepare to discuss the 7 MHz "harmonization" issue--WRC-03 Agenda Item 1.23--at a session of Sub-Working Group 4C1.

Adoption of the Article 25.5 modification would not mean the immediate disappearance of the Morse requirement to operate on the amateur bands below 30 MHz. Each administration, including the FCC if it chooses to do so, would decide whether to drop the requirement from its domestic regulations. Some countries have indicated a desire to retain a Morse code requirement, even though it would no longer be an international treaty obligation.

At this point in WRC-03, which began June 9 at the Geneva International Conference Center adjacent to ITU Headquarters, work on the various telecommunications topics has progressed on the microscopic level in sub-working groups, which this week are funneling their reports to larger working groups assigned to tackle various pieces of the huge WRC-03 agenda. More than 2600 delegates and other participants are attending the four-week conference, chaired by Dr Veena Rawat of Canada. For WRC-03, the IARU has fielded its largest team of observers at an ITU conference in more than a decade.

There's less consensus on efforts to secure a "harmonized" 300-kHz-wide amateur allocation at 7 MHz. Assigned to Sub-Working Group 4C1, Sumner said initial discussions "were spirited and reflected sharp differences of opinion" between those advocating realignment and those favoring no change out of deference to the disruption that any realignment would cause broadcasting services now occupying 7.1 to 7.3 MHz in Regions 1 and 3, and the fixed services above 7.3 MHz that would be affected by an upward shift in broadcasting. Amateurs in the US and the rest of Region 2 enjoy a 300-kHz allocation from 7.0 to 7.3 MHz, but hams in the rest of the world, Regions 1 and 3, have only 7.0 to 7.1 MHz.

Don Messer of the US chaired the start of 7 MHz discussions in Sub Working Group 4C1.

Sumner says a drafting group that "distilled the disparate views" emerged with four alternatives, some of which pose potentially lengthy waits to complete the harmonization process. "The largest group favored realignment in two stages," he explained. That group included the US, CEPT, CITEL and the African Telecommunications Union. The two steps would expand the band in Regions 1 and 3 by 100 kHz in 2007 and add the remaining 100 kHz in 2015. However, other sticky details remained to be worked out among the proponents of this general approach.

A second group--Australia, India and a regional group that includes the Russian Federation--offered a more modest realignment, with another 50 kHz for amateurs in Regions 1 and 3 in 2018 and another 50 kHz not phasing in until 2033. "A 30-year implementation period seemed rather excessive to nearly everyone," Sumner said, "and some members of the group indicated a willingness to negotiate a shorter period."

(L-R) IARU team members Wojciech Nietyksza, SP5FM, Michael Owen, VK3KI, David Sumner, K1ZZ and Robert W. Jones, VE7RWJ. Jones is serving as a consultant to the IARU. IARU President Larry Price, W4RA, heads the IARU observers. [Tim Totten, N4GN, Photo]

Japan and Korea held to their proposal for an additional 100 kHz for amateurs in Regions 1 and 3 in one stage in 2015, while the Arab group and Iran, along with a number of other administrations, insisted on no change to the current situation.

"We still have a long way to go and little time to get there," Sumner said. After further distilling, the sub-working group today passed three options up to Working Group 4C this week. If agreement cannot be reached at the Working Group level by Friday, the issue will be passed to Committee 4 and ultimately to the Plenary. Sumner has emphasized that despite agreements on the working group level, ultimate decisions happen in the Plenary, where items need to pass two readings for adoption. Major agenda items are not expected to come before the Plenary until the final week of the conference.

Sergei Bunin, UR5UN (left), and Moshe Ben-Isaac, 4X4PG, were among those attending an IARU-hosted reception for more than 150 conference attendees on June 18. WRC-03 concludes July 4. [Tim Totten, N4GN, Photo]

In other Amateur Radio-related items, revisions to Article 19 of the Radio Regulations to provide more flexibility for administrations to assign amateur call signs were among the first to make their way through an initial reading in the Plenary. Administrations would be able to assign amateur stations call signs with suffixes containing up to four characters--the last of which would be a letter. The prefix would be the national identifier and a single numeral (the "call district" in some countries) specified in the Radio Regulations. For special events, the revision provides for even more than four characters for temporary use.

The issue of an allocation for satellite-borne synthetic aperture radars (SARs) in the 70-cm band (432-438 MHz) also appears well on the way to resolution. "While it appears very likely that there will be an allocation, it will be secondary," Sumner's report explains. It also will be subject to limitations spelled out in an ITU Recommendation (ITU-R SA.1260-1), designed to protect the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite services, among others. "The IARU has maintained its opposition, but the tide is running against us," Sumner said, adding that if the allocation is secondary and the limits in SA.1260-1 are mandatory, the interference potential should not be that great.

Two other agenda items with a potential to have significant impact are the drafting of an agenda for the next WRC, scheduled for 2007 and the revision of footnotes to the Table of Frequency Allocations. A member of the IARU core team has been assigned to follow each of these five items, but the greatest focus is on 7 MHz, Sumner said.

Full reports on WRC-03 activities are available on the IARU Web site.

Previous: The K7RA Solar Update

Next: A VHF Experiment Paved with Good Intentions