WIA meets with ACMA

On 25 June 2007 WIA President Michael Owen VK3KI and WIA Director Peter Young VK3MV met with Mark Loney, Executive Manager Pricing and Policy, Alan Jordan and John Kington at the ACMA Central Office in Canberra.

The meeting was initiated at the request of the WIA for a briefing on the delays in dealing with a number of matters, particularly arising out of the Amateur Service Review Outcomes Paper. The ACMA acknowledged the delays and sought to work with the WIA in addressing its concerns.

Of particular concern to the WIA was the delay in the making of the further amending Determination to give effect to the balance of the matters identified in the Outcomes paper, now a delay of 3 years. The WIA also raised the delay in finalising the arrangements with CEPT to allow Australian amateurs travelling overseas the privilege of operating in other countries without the need to obtain an individual authorisation in those countries, and the delay in the issue of a Class Licence to enable amateurs visiting Australia to operate here without the need for an individual licence.

Another concern was the delay in the finalisation of the issue or re-issue of 2 letter callsigns.

The WIA is also concerned at the continuing uncertainty about the future of the management of the amateur examination and the related certificate issue, as well as the callsign management function.

The WIA pointed out that the delay in the LCD meant that uncertainty prevailed over the power Foundation licensees permitted, the privileges of Foundation licensees and also that the WIA�s publication �The Foundation Licence Manual� was running short and it could not be reprinted until the regulations could be up dated.

While the WIA accepted that the current delay in the LCD was beyond the direct control of ACMA, Mr Loney offered to do all he could to achieve a speedy finalisation of that, and that other immediate solutions would be investigated to address a number of the other problems faced by the WIA and its members. Mr Loney indicated that more resources would commence next week to address these outstanding issues with the view to finalisation as soon as possible.

In particular, work on the visiting/visitor licence issues has commenced and will be completed as soon as the enabling legislation is drafted.

The ACMA advised that a statement on the allocation process for the issue of two-letter callsigns would be made shortly, and the announcement may be made within a statement addressing the broader issues surrounding callsign management.

In relation to the outsourcing arrangements, the WIA was given a briefing on the process the ACMA intends to follow.

The WIA representatives felt that the meeting was positive and conducted in a constructive manner with a commitment to explore a range of options to meet the concerns expressed by the WIA on behalf of its members.

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