Sweden’s Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) is considering lowering the transmitter output power for general Amateur Radio stations to 200 W PEP. Under a set of wide-ranging proposed regulatory changes affecting many radio services, radio amateurs who want to run higher power would have to apply for a license and pay an annual fee of about $33.

Amateur Radio licenses were eliminated in Sweden in 2004, and Amateur Radio in Sweden is “permission free,” but prospective radio amateurs still must pass an examination, typically arranged by Sweden’s International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Member-Society in Sweden, SSA.

A certificate and a call sign, valid for life, are issued without any future fees. The maximum permitted power on most HF bands is 1 kW; that power level would not necessarily be guaranteed under an Amateur Radio license, and conditions could apply.

The PTS’s rationale is that requiring a license for radio amateurs who want to run more than 200 W will make it easier to trace any interference that those transmitters may cause.

“The matter is widely discussed in Sweden,” Henryk Kotowski, SM0JHF, told ARRL, “since there are quite a few opponents to permission-free operation, resulting — in their eyes — in degradation of quality and discipline on the air.” SSA is planning to comment on the proposal. The deadline is March 30. -- Thanks to Henryk Kotowski, SM0JHF