The Bromley and District Amateur Radio Society

Lifetime Licensing
by OFCOM

Ofcom today launched an online lifetime licensing service for ships’ and amateur radio. The online licensing website can be found at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/licensing/olc/

The new service is online with a charged for service for paperbased licences as a backup.

Once registered, the new service allows you the user to update there contact details, apply for new licences and check the details of any licences they currently hold. In order to do this you will first need to register by submitting your contact details and choosing a password on the following page. Ofcom will then send you a unique username by post that will allow you to use the system.

At present the online system covers Ship’s Radio and Amateur Radio licences. Over the next few months it will be expanded to cover many other types of licence that fall within Ofcom’s area of responsibility.

If you wish to use the online system to apply for your amateur radio licence, you must have:

1. Passed the RSGB RAE certificate from June 2003, and need to supply:
1. Candidate number;
2. Type of examination passed (e.g. Foundation, Intermediate, or Full);
2. The mailing address (if different from the station address);
3. A valid e-mail address;
4. Adobe reader installed on your PC (to open and print the radio licence - http://www.adobe.com/uk/);
5. A printer available to print the radio licence;
6. The consent of a parent / guardian if you’re under 18 years of age;

Please note that you can’t change your name online. If you wish to do this, you need to submit a paper based form with supporting documentation (e.g. marriage certificate or deed poll). The originals will be sent back to you in due course, but please keep a copy if you consider it necessary.

Online licencing is a major step forward in bringing to process into the 21st centry