MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
between
Industry Canada, Manitoba District
and the
Manitoba Amateur Repeater Coordination Council
Version 2005.11.08
This Memorandum sets out an understanding between Industry Canada, Manitoba District, and the Manitoba Amateur Repeater Coordination Council concerning the coordination of radio frequency use in the Amateur Radio service within the Manitoba District.
1. Purpose
The purpose of this Memorandum is to set out the understanding under by which the Manitoba Amateur Repeater Coordination Council and Industry Canada in the Manitoba District cooperate in assisting radio Amateurs in the Manitoba District with respect to the coordination of Amateur radio frequency use in Manitoba.
2. Background
Industry Canada, a Department of the Government of Canada, administers the Radiocommunications Act and General Radio Regulations. Industry Canada document, RP-Gen
"Spectrum Policy Principles and Other Information Related to Spectrum Utilization and Radio System Policies" incorporates the general principles which form the basis for specific policies on spectrum utilization. Industry Canada document RIC-25 "Rules and Regulations Affecting the Amateur Service" contains extracts from the Act, the Regulations and International Telecommunications Union Radio Regulations as they apply to Amateur radio stations.
The Manitoba District of Industry Canada deals with telecommunications matters affecting Manitoba.
The Manitoba Amateur Repeater Coordination Council, acts on behalf of Amateur radio clubs throughout Manitoba. The purposes of MARCC are: (a) to be the means by which Amateur radio operators in Manitoba may obtain reasonable and equitable coordination of fixed frequency allocations to result in minimum interference and maximum re-use of available frequencies; and (b) to be the means by which Amateur radio clubs and individuals may coordinate their activities for the general benefit of all Amateur radio operators in Manitoba. A MARCC document, MARCC Radio Frequency Coordination Policies, sets out the general policies under which MARCC operates to provide frequency coordination for fixed-frequency Amateur radio operations in Manitoba.
MARCC cooperates with the Radio Amateurs of Canada, and with the MARCC's counterparts in adjacent areas of Canada, North Dakota and Minnesota, U.S.A.
The Regulations, Part II (GR2) set out the conditions under which radio stations in the Amateur service may operate, and Schedule II of the Regulations sets out the frequency bands, bandwidths and operator qualifications for the stations in the Amateur service operating in Canada. However, neither Schedule II nor any other part of the Regulations sets conditions for operations on fixed frequencies within the Amateur bands, and Industry Canada policy is that selection of any operating frequency or frequencies within a band is a matter of individual operator choice.
At VHF and UHF, and to a lesser extent at lower frequencies, Amateur operation of beacons, voice repeaters and digital repeaters on fixed frequencies is common. To encourage orderly use of the available frequencies and minimize conflict between operators of fixed-frequency stations, various Amateur organizations, including the American Radio Relay League, the Radio Amateurs of Canada and others, have issued "band plans" showing channelization of the bands with specific frequencies intended for such fixed-frequency operations. It remains the responsibility of individual operators to select a fixed frequency or frequencies on which to operate, while simultaneously avoiding interference to or from other stations which may use the same frequency or frequencies. In practice, except in remote areas with little radio activity, conflicts do arise, often based on insufficient knowledge or information about frequencies in use and about the extent of radio communications coverage of existing stations. Although conflicts over frequency usage may be resolved by the individual operators, those operators generally desire to avoid conflict in the first instance, and if conflict does occur they may desire to have the assistance of a third, independent, party to resolve the conflict by regulation or by mediation.
Avoiding conflict requires, as a minimum, access to an up-to-date and accurate technical database of all existing fixed-frequency Amateur stations operating in Manitoba, and operating in adjacent areas within coverage range of Manitoba. MARCC is prepared to establish and maintain the required database, with the cooperation and assistance of Industry Canada during the initial setup.
In the absence of a legal authority, successful coordination requires that MARCC has the respect and agreement of the Amateur community and the licensing authority with regard to the activities of the frequency coordinator.
Concerned Amateur operators in Manitoba have agreed, through their clubs and individual representatives, to establish MARCC and to empower it to undertake frequency coordination, and mediation if requested, for the Amateur service in Manitoba.
The following paragraphs set out the understanding between Industry Canada in the Manitoba District and MARCC with regard to the activities of MARCC in the field of Amateur radio frequency coordination in Manitoba.
3. Understandings
The Manitoba District of Industry Canada and MARCC agree to cooperate and assist each other as follows:
3.1 Industry Canada, under the Radiocommunications Act and Radio Regulations, is the sole regulatory authority for all matters dealing with the management of the radio frequency spectrum in Canada.
3.2 MARCC will act in an advisory or consultative capacity, to assist Amateur operators in selection of operating frequencies, to maintain a database of frequencies selected and used by Amateur fixed-frequency operations in Manitoba, to provide education to Amateurs on matters of frequency coordination, and to mediate frequency-use conflicts if requested by the parties involved.
3.3 Industry Canada in the Manitoba District endorses the frequency-coordination activities of MARCC.
3.4 MARCC will request coordinators to establish liaison and cooperation with the District office in the Manitoba District of Industry Canada.
3.5 MARCC undertakes to develop and maintain, to the best of its ability, a technical database of all fixed-frequency Amateur stations in Manitoba, and to include, to the extent practical, similar information regarding fixed-frequency operations in adjacent areas of the Saskatchewan, Nunavut, Ontario, North Dakota and Minnesota. A public version of the database will be made available to Industry Canada in the Manitoba District at its Manitoba District office for their information and use, and this database will be updated regularly by MARCC.
3.6 If an application is received by the Manitoba District office for a license to operate an Amateur station as a repeater or on a fixed frequency, the applicant will be informed that Industry Canada does not issue authority for Amateur operation on specific frequencies and that the applicant should complete a MARCC request for coordination form and submit it to MARCC.
3.7 MARCC will only accept frequency coordination applications for repeaters from licensed Amateurs of advanced standing or equivalent.
3.8 Industry Canada in the Manitoba District will no longer issue Amateur station licenses showing a specific frequency or frequencies of operation, and will undertake to remove reference to specific operating frequencies on existing Amateur station licenses.
Either party may terminate this Memorandum by written notification to the other party. This Memorandum is effective from November 1st., 2005.
Industry Canada, Manitoba District
Original signed by
Director General
Manitoba Amateur Radio Coordination Council
Original signed by
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