60m Band a Step Closer in France

French regulator ARCEP has issued a decision that will lead to radio amateurs getting secondary access to the 60m band 5351.50-5366.50 kHz agreed at WRC-15

5360 kHz - ARCEP Decision No. 19-1412 Published 14/11/2019

ARCEP Decision No. 2019-1412 of 24 September 2019 amending Decision No. 2012-1241, modifying the conditions governing the use of frequencies by radio stations in the amateur service or the amateur-satellite service.

The decision to assign the band 5.360 MHz to the amateur service is therefore validated by ARCEP.

This decision must now be sent to the competent minister for approval and publication in the Official Journal (OJ).

It is only then that the band will be open to traffic, under the conditions provided by the text of the ARCEP.

REF in English - https://tinyurl.com/FranceREF

ARCEP Decision (French) - https://arcep.fr/uploads/tx_gsavis/19-1412.pdf

French Government Official Journal in English - https://tinyurl.com/France-Official-Journal

Kuwait and Israel Joins 60m

A secondary allocation of 5.351.5 – 5.366.5 MHz was released to radio amateurs in Kuwait, where they will adhere to the World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15) allocation, permitting a maximum power of 15 W EIRP. Indonesian and Greek hams recently gained access to the same allocation.

Meanwhile, Israel has extended authorization of 5 MHz amateur permits to the end of December and added a Channel 0 to the existing eight channels, where hams may run 100 W PEP on several modes, depending upon the channel.

Still under discussion is ham radio access to a 5 MHz secondary band in Australia, where the band is used by some emergency services and law enforcement. Nearly 80 countries offer some level of amateur access to the 5 MHz band.

In the US, ARRL petitioned the FCC shortly after WRC-15 to allocate a secondary 60-meter band and to permit 100 W PEP, as already authorized on the existing channels there.