Ofcom Consultation 2023 – Survey Results

Ofcom LogoOfcom released a consultation paper in June 2023 outlining a number of possible licence condition changes. These represent a major change for UK radio amateurs.

The Ofcom consultation is now closed, but in order to gauge how the UK amateur radio community views the changes proposed in the Ofcom consultation, Essex Ham ran an online survey between 24 June and 03 September 2023.

461 complete responses were received, and here are the results:

Question 1 (section 3): One licence

Ofcom has proposed to allow each amateur to only hold one personal licence, surrendering all but one licence, and revoking a licence once progressing to a higher level.

Do you agree with Ofcom’s proposal that each licensee should only be able to hold one personal licence?

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Don’t Know / Don’t Care

32.0%

40.2%

7.8%

10.0%

10.0%

Question 2 (section 3): Supervised use

To allow the hobby to be showcased, Ofcom  is proposing that anyone should be able to use the radio equipment, providing that this is under the direct supervision of the licensee (at any level)

Do you agree with Ofcom’s proposals to permit greater supervised use of the radio equipment by others?

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Don’t Know / Don’t Care

34.9%

49.6%

7.9%

4.8%

2.8%

Question 3 (section 4): M8 and M9 Call sign

Many view the 2×0 and 2×1 callsign format for Intermediate as “clunky”. Ofcom’s proposing M8 and M9 for Intermediate.

Do you agree with Ofcom’s proposal to use M8 and M9 for Intermediate licensees going forward?

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Don’t Know / Don’t Care

29.9%

45.5%

6.6%

3.1%

14.9%

Question 4 (section 4): RSLs

This is one of the more controversial proposals – to make the Regional Secondary Locators (e.g. Scotland “M”, Wales “W”, Northern Ireland “I”) optional, and allowing those in England to add an optional “E”.

Do you agree with Ofcom’s proposals to change its policies on the use of RSLs?

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Don’t Know / Don’t Care

17.6%

42.9%

11.8%

14.4%

13.3%

Question 5 (section 4): Suffixes

Another one that’s divided opinion – removing references to /M, /P, /A, and allowing any suffix after a callsign.

Do you agree with Ofcom’s proposals to allow the use of any suffix?

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Don’t Know / Don’t Care

18.5%

35.9%

21.4%

11.9%

12.3%

Question 6 (section 4): Change call sign

This is the most controversial and in two parts: a) old callsigns can be reissued after being revoked for 2 years (including SK callsigns), and b) allowing amateurs to change their callsign every 2 years if they wish.

Do you agree with Ofcom’s proposals to allow a change of call signs?

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Don’t Know / Don’t Care

16.5%

32.3%

23.1%

20.0%

8.1%

Question 7 (section 4): Call sign limits

Ofcom’s proposing that each amateur is only allowed to hold one callsign. Clubs can hold a maximum of 5.

Do you agree with Ofcom’s proposals on the limits to how many call signs can be held?

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Don’t Know / Don’t Care

30.2%

43.6%

8.4%

9.3%

8.6%

Question 8 (section 4): Special event call signs

This one is for those involved with GB special event callsigns – allowing more flexibility on location and how often they can be used, plus allowing for longer callsigns.

Do you agree with Ofcom’s proposal to simplify special event call signs?

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Don’t Know / Don’t Care

18.7%

48.2%

6.3%

2.9%

23.9%

Question 9 (section 5): Increase transmit power

It’s being proposed that Foundation goes from a maximum of 10 to 20 watts, Intermediate from a maximum of 50 to 100 watts and Full from a maximum of 400 to 1,000 watts

Do you agree with Ofcom’s proposals to increase transmit power?

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Don’t Know / Don’t Care

47.6%

36.2%

7.6%

5.2%

3.3%

Question 10 (section 5): Remote operation

It’s proposed to allow Foundation and Intermediate to be able to use the Internet for remote control of radio equipment, something previously only available at Full.

Do you agree with Ofcom’s proposed changes to remote control operation?

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Don’t Know / Don’t Care

37.0%

43.5%

6.4%

3.8%

9.3%

Question 11 (section 5): Beacons

Changes for those who run beacons – to be able to do so for some beacons without applying for an NoV

Do you agree with Ofcom’s proposed changes to Beacon operation?

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Don’t Know / Don’t Care

25.8%

46.9%

6.9%

2.7%

17.8%

Question 12 (section 5): Gateways

Gateways and hotspots have increased in popularity. To reflect this, it’s proposed to make this easier and do away with the requirement for an NoV.

Do you agree with Ofcom’s proposed changes to Gateways?

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Don’t Know / Don’t Care

23.9%

40.2%

9.6%

4.0%

22.3%

Question 13 (section 5): Repeaters

It’s proposed that Intermediate and Full can deploy a repeater without the requirement for an NoV (under 5 watts), or over 5 watts if granted a callsign by RSGB

Do you agree with Ofcom’s proposed changes to repeaters?

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Don’t Know / Don’t Care

24.1%

48.8%

6.5%

4.5%

16.3%

Question 14 (section 5): Foundation Licence

Allowing construction (transmitters) at Foundation, and allowing access to 2.4GHZ and 5GHz frequencies.

Do you agree with Ofcom’s proposed changes to allow Foundation Licence holders to build their own equipment and access the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands?

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Don’t Know / Don’t Care

31.1%

40.1%

14.0%

6.4%

8.3%

  

Question 15 (section 5): Airborne use

Allowing limited airborne use (500mW EIRP on Primary bands)

Do you agree to Ofcom’s proposals to permit some limited airborne use?

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Don’t Know / Don’t Care

23.8%

48.1%

4.9%

2.2%

20.9%

 

 

Overall Opinions

We asked for overall impressions of the proposals – here are the results, plus a breakdown of how people responded by the length of time that they have been licensed:

These are generally sensible changes 70.0%
Ofcom could have gone further to make things simpler 18.6%
Ofcom has gone too far and made things too simple 8.7%
Other 2.6%

Ofcom Consultation Results

Ofcom Consultation Results

Ofcom Consultation Results

Survey Demographics

For information, here is a breakdown of the survey demographics:

Respondent’s Licence Level

Number

Percentage

Foundation

132

28.6%

Intermediate

74

16.1%

Full

242

52.5%

Non-UK

2

0.4%

Not licensed

11

2.4%

 

When was respondent first licensed?

Number

Percentage

In the last 2 years

110

23.9%

In the last 5 years

97

21.0%

In the last 10 years

47

10.2%

In the last 20 years

48

10.4%

In the last 30 years

39

8.5%

In the last 40 years

55

11.9%

In the last 50 years and above

50

10.8%

Not licenced

13

2.8%

No answer

2

0.4%

 

Responses by licensed-length

In response to requests, we have included some data about how various demographics answered. In our survey, we also asked how people felt about the exam syllabus and what should be tested on today’s exams. Here are the results, split by “when were you first licensed?”:

“I’d like to see exams made easier”

“I’d like to see exams made harder”

“The RSGB’s has “watered down” exams and syllabus too much”

“The RSGB’s exam syllabus is bloated and needs to be slimmed down”

“Exams should have more content around operating procedures”

“Exams should have more theory-based content (electronics, RF, etc)”

 

The full submission has been sent to those who requested a copy when completing our survey. This includes samples of some of the comments raised for each question. It is available to our community members here: Essex Ham’s Submission to Ofcom 

 

Handy Links

What’s Next?

The consultation closed on the 4th of September 2023. As we understand it, there will be a policy statement released by Ofcom by the end of 2023, and we could potentially see some of the changes taking effect in the first half of 2024.

Got any thoughts? Please add a comment below…

31 Comments

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