Change your callsign at will: Ofcom issues licensing review update

Ian, 2E0ISD, operating the club SES — Ian, 2E0ISD, operates the Remembrance Day SES

Ofcom has implemented Phases 2 and 3 of its Amateur Radio licensing review. The changes are designed to modernise the licensing framework and improve flexibility for licensees.

Updates include:

Intermediate M8 and M9 go live. New Intermediate licensees will now be able to choose an M8 or M9 call sign. Existing licensees can change their current 2 series call sign to the corresponding M series. For 2#0 call sign holders we have reserved the corresponding M8 call sign and 2#1 the M9 via the online portal.
Ability to change call sign. All licensees can now propose a new call sign of their choice via the online portal, once every five years. The system will check whether the requested call sign is available (i.e. not currently in use). Once a call sign is surrendered or revoked, it will remain unavailable for assignment for 5 years.
Introduction of single personal licence. Licensees will only be able to hold a single personal licence. When a licensee progresses to the next level, their previous lower level licence(s) will be revoked. Regarding the revocation process for existing licensees not progressing we will provide more details in a future update.
Enhanced online licensing tools. We have made it easier for licensees to manage their licences, select a wider range of call signs and validate information online. Licensees that fail to revalidate their licence every 5 years will see their licence revoked.
Updated rules for Special Event stations (SES). We have liberalised the use of SES. The new SES will allow call signs to a maximum six characters in length, in the format 'GBdccccca' (d = digit other than 3 or 7, c = digit or letter, a = letter). Licensees will be able to choose a range of SES call signs, as long as they start 'GB'. As a result of these changes we have removed the Special SES Notice of Variation.