Swedish Hams to be Charged for More Power?

Sweden’s Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) is considering lowering the transmitter output power for general Amateur Radio stations to 200 W PEP. Under a set of wide-ranging proposed regulatory changes affecting many radio services, radio amateurs who want to run higher power would have to apply for a license and pay an annual fee of about $33.

Amateur Radio licenses were eliminated in Sweden in 2004, and Amateur Radio in Sweden is “permission-free,” but prospective radio amateurs still must pass an examination, typically arranged by Sweden’s International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Member-Society in Sweden, SSA.

A certificate and a call sign, valid for life, are issued without any future fees. The maximum permitted power on most HF bands is 1 kW; that power level would not necessarily be guaranteed under an Amateur Radio license, and conditions could apply.

The PTS’s rationale is that requiring a license for radio amateurs who want to run more than 200 W will make it easier to trace any interference that those transmitters may cause.

The proposal deadline is 30 March 2018