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were proposed. If allocated to the Amateur Service on a secondary basis, hams would have to avoid interfering with--and accept interference from--current occupants of the spectrum, as they already do on 30 meters. The band 5.250 to 5.450 MHz now is allocated to Fixed and Mobile services on a co-primary basis in all three ITU regions.  The ARRL said that its successful WA2XSY experimental operation between 1999 and this year demonstrates that amateur stations can coexist with current users and that the band is very suitable for US-to-Caribbean paths. In comparisons with 80 and 40 meters, the WA2XSY operation also showed the 60-meter band to be the most reliable of the three.  The subject of an international 5 MHz Amateur Radio allocation is not on the agenda for World Radiocommunication Conference 2003, nor has it been proposed for subsequent WRCs. Proposals are pending in Europe for a band around 5 MHz, however, and the band 5.245 to 5.445 MHz is being studied as a possible candidate for the Amateur Service in the United Kingdom. Efforts are under way to get authorization for an experimental operation there.
A copy of the ARRL petition is available on the ARRL Web site.
[courtesy ARRL Web, ARRL]