(The following thanks to ARRL Letter dated October 23, 1998.) FCC ISSUES UNIVERSAL LICENSING SYSTEM RULES The FCC has issued its long-awaited Report and Order on the Universal Licensing System, which affects all Wireless Telecommunications Bureau licensees. Among other things, the ULS will result in replacing Amateur Radio's familiar FCC Form 610 series with a new Form 605. The new rules become official 60 days after publication in The Federal Register--sometime around the end of the year. The FCC said it expects to have the ULS fully operational by next April. Using the ULS, applicants and licensees will be able to file, modify, and renew electronically. Access to the ULS is via http://www.fcc.gov/wtb/uls/. The FCC's action consolidates approximately 40 existing forms into four ULS applications, including the new Form 605. Electronic filing in the ULS will not yet be mandatory for individual amateurs. Hams will have the option of filing electronically or on paper. However, electronic filing via the ULS will be required for Volunteer Examiner Coordinators in the Amateur Service. Under the ULS, amateurs will use Form 605, the Quick-Form Application for Authorization in the Ship, Aircraft, Amateur, Restricted and Commercial Operator, and General Mobile Radio Services for all purposes. Applicants may continue to use the old forms for six months after the new rules go into effect, however. Responding to comments from the ARRL and the W5YI Group, the FCC said it would include the Physician's Certification of Disability (Physician's Certification) on the new Form 605 in Part 2 of Schedule D. As part of its Report and Order on the ULS, the FCC also issued amended rules (in WT Docket 96-188) to authorize visiting foreign hams to operate in the US pursuant to recent international reciprocal operating agreements. "We conclude that all alien amateur radio reciprocal operation should be authorized by rule," the FCC said. This means that foreign hams holding a CEPT radio-amateur license from a CEPT country or an International Amateur Radio Permit issued by a participating CITEL country may operate while visiting the US without having to apply for permission. Additionally, it will be easier for US hams to operate in participating countries in Europe and the Americas. Against ARRL objections, the FCC eliminated the one-year term for an alien reciprocal permit and will not require an FCC license document. The FCC noted that the new system is similar to the one already in place for US and Canadian hams to operate in each other's countries. The authority would not extend to US citizens claiming second citizenship and an amateur license from another country, however. The FCC said it will require the submission of a Taxpayer Identification Number by applicants and licensees using ULS, "consistent with the requirements of the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996." Some commenters, particularly amateur operators, argued against the requirement, saying that disclosure of a TIN--typically a Social Security Number--raised privacy concerns and was unnecessary to the Commission's regulatory goals. But, the FCC said its security measures will limit access to TIN data both online and to FCC staff. "Once data has been entered into ULS, sensitive data such as TINs will not be accessible to the public," the FCC said. The FCC has not addressed how it plans to handle applicants who do not have a TIN, such as foreign nationals who hold FCC licenses. The FCC stood by its plan to use certain eligible private-sector entities, on a strictly voluntary basis, to issue club and military recreation station call signs. Both text and formatted versions of the complete Report and Order, WT Dockets 98-20 and 96-188, are available on the FCC Web site, http://www.fcc.gov.