Good news is hardly heard from anywhere, and it is more welcome when it comes from a country like Bangladesh, and even more appreciable when it is for a hobby like Amateur Radio.

Since 2004, the amateur radio license issuing authority in Bangladesh had stopped taking examinations and issuing licenses to the enthusiast.

After continuous lobbying for the last four years, members of the Bangladesh Amateur Radio League – BARL had finally been able to make the concerned authorities understand the significance of Ham Radio Operators in a country with frequent natural disasters like floods and cyclones.

Three executive members of the BARL, S21RB (Engr. Belayet Robin), S21VA (Dr. Zahid Shipon) and S21SH (Saiful Huda) had a very fruitful meeting with the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission – BTRC on 21st of July 2008 .

Besides the Chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission – BTRC, Major General Manzurul Alam (Retd) almost all the senior officials, engineers and technical experts of the authorities were present at the meeting.

At the onset of the meeting S21RB made a presentation highlighting the activities of the Amateur Radio Operators in Bangladesh since its activities started in this country.

The BTRC Chairman gave a very patient hearing to the BARL team and during the nearly two hour meeting also assured to resolve the problems of different HAM issues and do all possible for the promotion of the scientific hobby in the country.

As part of the latest development, the BTRC has decided to resume the process of issuing Amateur Radio Licenses and take examinations regularly every month. Examinees have to sit for the examination before a computer.

Details of the examination are available on the BTRC www.btrc.gov.bd and BARL www.barl.org website.

The BTRC has also decided to formulate, for the first time, a time befitting Amateur Radio operating rules and regulations.

Regards,
Belayet Robin
Amateur Radio Call Sign – S21RB
http://belayet.googlepages.com
http://www.barl.org

Our thanks to Ian G3ZHI for this information