Southgate reports this morning that Brazil’s Agencia Nacional de Telecommunicacoes (ANATEL) is proposing the elimination of amateur radio examinations. This is part of a broad proposal, known ad CP65, to simplify Brazil’s regulation of telecom services. (Section 2.15 is the section relevant to the Amateur Radio Service.)
According to the report, the Brazilian Amateur Radio League (LABRE), was surprised by the proposal that calls for the elimination of the exam for all classes. Should the proposal be adopted, applicants would be given class C license with no examination. Applicants who present a certificate of technical course in telecommunications (or similar) or have 3 years of experience as a Class C licensee would be issued a Class B license. Applicants who present a certificate of higher education in telecommunications (or the like) or who have been a Class B licensee for 3 years would be advanced to Class A..
The proposal, in addition to not following international regulations for the Amateur Radio Service, is absolutely contrary to the LABRE’s thinking with regard to the minimum requirements to be a radio amateur. It also does not match ANATEL’s request for support from LABRE in the revision of amateur radio regulations in Brazil. LABRE has already requested a meeting with ANATEL, which will be scheduled soon.
Here in the U.S., there have always been complaints that the Tech license exam is too easy. That being the case, you can imagine the uproar we’d have here if the FCC proposed such a thing. Would this be such a bad thing, though, really? Instead of wasting so much time and energy on testing, we could instead devote those resources to providing practical training to new hams. And, I say this as someone who makes a buck off selling license study guides.
What do you think?