3 ms·

Wonder why the attitude difference?

by mrtksn 3y ago

wkat4242 3y ago
Not sure about other countries but in Holland it had a clear reason. The old socialist-centric government of the 80s/early 90s viewed the radio spectrum as infrastructure similar to the road network. This meant that in their view their main task was policing the airwaves. Policing was omnipresent, and they would take action on every infraction even ones where radio spectrum that wasn't actually in use was used by unauthorized parties. The radio amateurs were simply one of the many right holders and treated as such. We paid a pretty reasonable fee but were respected in turn. Then when the neoliberals came to power, this changed. They view the radio spectrum as a natural resource from which they need to extract maximum profit. This coincided with the rise of mobile phones and an ever-increasing demand for radio spectrum. They moved the regulating angency from under the ministry of transportation to the ministry of economic affairs. This meant that the attitude changed a lot: HAMs were viewed as 'freeloaders', spectrum for mobile operators etc was auctioned off for billions, and policing was restricted to only following up on issues that impacted operations of major spectrum holders or made the press. I'm pretty sure that the only thing keeping them from taking spectrum away to auction off to multinationals, are international agreements. One example: When highly popular central heating company "Vaillant" introduced a new digital model which caused emissions from the wiring between the heater and the thermostat that jammed the 2m repeater band, it took a LOT of complaining to finally get the regulator to take action. At this point these heaters had been sold so much that it took years to resolve it. Of course there were other developments at this time which caused a major decline in HAM population. Like the internet and home computer. Until then the big thing a geek would have at home would be a radio shack, but since the internet and mobile phone the whole "I can talk to anyone in the world from my attic!!!" had lost a lot of its shine. But I do believe the above really was the reason why at least our regulator changed its views so heavily.

Wonder why the attitude difference?

by mrtksn 3y ago

Wonder why the attitude difference?

Not sure about other countries but in Holland it had a clear reason. The old socialist-centric government of the 80s/early 90s viewed the radio spectrum as infrastructure similar to the road network. This meant that in their view their main task was policing the airwaves. Policing was omnipresent, and they would take action on every infraction even ones where radio spectrum that wasn't actually in use was used by unauthorized parties. The radio amateurs were simply one of the many right holders and treated as such. We paid a pretty reasonable fee but were respected in turn. Then when the neoliberals came to power, this changed. They view the radio spectrum as a natural resource from which they need to extract maximum profit. This coincided with the rise of mobile phones and an ever-increasing demand for radio spectrum. They moved the regulating angency from under the ministry of transportation to the ministry of economic affairs. This meant that the attitude changed a lot: HAMs were viewed as 'freeloaders', spectrum for mobile operators etc was auctioned off for billions, and policing was restricted to only following up on issues that impacted operations of major spectrum holders or made the press. I'm pretty sure that the only thing keeping them from taking spectrum away to auction off to multinationals, are international agreements. One example: When highly popular central heating company "Vaillant" introduced a new digital model which caused emissions from the wiring between the heater and the thermostat that jammed the 2m repeater band, it took a LOT of complaining to finally get the regulator to take action. At this point these heaters had been sold so much that it took years to resolve it. Of course there were other developments at this time which caused a major decline in HAM population. Like the internet and home computer. Until then the big thing a geek would have at home would be a radio shack, but since the internet and mobile phone the whole "I can talk to anyone in the world from my attic!!!" had lost a lot of its shine. But I do believe the above really was the reason why at least our regulator changed its views so heavily.