EMF: Ofcom propose new Amateur Radio licence conditions

Guest

Ofcom has ignored the advice of many highly-regarded organisations and are pressing ahead with unnecessary changes to licences that will impose a significant bureaucratic burden on licensees

Radio amateurs have been operating for over a century yet in all that time Ofcom is unable to cite a single health issue resulting from a station's EMF. It is completely inexplicable as to why Ofcom would wish to impose these regulations on radio amateurs.

In the consultation document Ofcom says "penalties for breach of a spectrum licence can include an unlimited fine and/or prison sentence of up to 51 weeks in England and Wales (or 6 months in Scotland and Northern Ireland)."

Ofcom are now conducting a public consultation on the implementation of the new licence regulations which will apply to any licence that permits more than 10 watts EIRP, which is all amateur licences.

Responses from radio amateurs and other interested parties must be submitted by 5pm on November 16, details at
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-1/limiting-exposure-to-emf

The new consultation document with the proposed licence changes is at
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/204056/emf-implementation-consultation.pdf

Among comments to the first EMF consultation were:

BAE Systems described Ofcom's proposals as "at best nugatory and at worst counter-productive."

Sky pointed out that EMF exposure is already managed under product safety legislation, health and safety legislation and planning policy, and said
"it was unclear why Ofcom was now proposing to introduce additional and unnecessary burdens on operators."

The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) said it did not believe the proposals were a proportionate response to the identified issues and would be impossible to enforce. It said Ofcom had offered no evidence of the existing regulations being broken by maritime users.

SeaCall said the 10 Watt threshold was far too low, especially where exposure is brief. It pointed to the lack of evidence of harm to human health from transmissions below 100 Watts as long as a 1 metre separation was observed

Ofcom EMF Calculator
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/file/0018/204057/emf-calculator.xlsx

Guest

Ofcom is introducing new licence conditions for spectrum users, to ensure their equipment continues to operate within international electromagnetic field (EMF) guidelines.
All use of spectrum generates electromagnetic fields.
There are international safety guidelines – developed by the International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) – that set the maximum levels of EMF exposure for protection of the general public. These levels are endorsed by Public Health England.
Manufacturers, installers and operators of wireless equipment should already be aware of the ICNIRP guidelines, and factor them in to how they plan their services.
To ensure this always remains the case, we proposed new conditions for spectrum licensees earlier this year. Following consultation, we have now decided to introduce the new licence conditions.
This means licensees using equipment that is authorised to transmit at power levels higher than 10 Watts must operate within the ICNIRP guidelines as a condition of their Ofcom licence – including keeping data and records of any testing to demonstrate their compliance.
New online tool
While most spectrum licensees should already be factoring the ICNIRP guidelines into their services, we will be launching an online tool (our EMF calculator) to help make it as simple as possible for people to check whether the use of their radio equipment is likely to comply with the guidelines. This will be available on a trial basis initially and we will take account of the feedback we receive before launching the full version.
Next steps
Alongside our decision to introduce the new licence condition, we have published a consultation covering the updated wording of the condition; our updated Guidance on EMF Compliance and Enforcement; and a trial version of our new online EMF Calculator. We welcome feedback to this by 16 November, after which we will then begin varying the relevant licences to include the new condition. We will also launch our finalised online EMF calculator

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