SB QST @ ARL $ARLB021
ARLB021 FCC Says "No" to Lifetime Amateur Radio Licenses

ZCZC AG21
QST de W1AW
ARRL Bulletin 21  ARLB021
> From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT  June 24, 2016
To all radio amateurs

SB QST ARL ARLB021
ARLB021 FCC Says "No" to Lifetime Amateur Radio Licenses

The FCC has denied the petition of an Arizona radio amateur, who had
petitioned for lifetime Amateur Radio licenses. Mark F. Krotz, N7MK, of Mesa,
had filed his Petition for Rule Making (RM 11760) with the FCC last November,
and the FCC invited public comments in February. Krotz wanted the FCC to
revise Part 97.25 of its rules to indicate that Amateur Radio licenses are
granted for the holder's lifetime, instead of for the current 10-year term.
Hundreds of radio amateurs commented on the petition, but the FCC was not
swayed by those favoring the idea.

"Based on our review of the record, we are not persuaded that the petition
discloses sufficient grounds for the requested rule change," the FCC said in a
June 21 Order. "Krotz's primary argument is that extending the term of amateur
licenses to the lifetime of the holder would reduce the Commission's
administrative and personnel costs, but it is not clear to us that the
proposal actually would enhance administrative efficiency." That's because the
vast majority of license renewals are submitted online and processed
automatically by the Universal Licensing System (ULS), "with minimal staff
involvement," the Order said.

The Order can be found on the web in PDF format at, http://trans
tion.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2016/db0622/DA-16-707A1.pdf .

The FCC said it had further reduced its overhead by no longer routinely
mailing out paper licenses. "[I]f license terms were extended to the holder's
lifetime, we likely would receive more cancellations on account of the
licensee's death, which are labor-intensive, because staff must carefully
verify the deceased's identity and licenses in order to guard against
erroneous cancellations," the FCC said in its Order, signed by Wireless
Telecommunications Bureau Deputy Mobility Division Chief Scot Stone.

Krotz argued that the General Radiotelephone Operator License (GROL) already
is issued on a lifetime basis, but the FCC said that's not a comparable
situation, because an Amateur Radio license is both an operator's license and
a station license, "and there is no Commission precedent for issuing a
lifetime station license."

In 2014 the FCC granted lifetime credit for examination elements 3 and 4, but
applicants seeking relicensing under that provision still must pass
examination element 2. The FCC pointed out in its Order that this was done to
address the concerns of commenters that a licensee who had not renewed also
may not have maintained or expanded his or her knowledge and skills.

NNNN
/EX

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