The Administrative Council of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) met in Porlamar, Venezuela, October 3-5, 1998. The meeting was held immediately after the IARU Region 2 Conference. The following actions were taken:

1. After completion of consultation between the Council and President Rod Stafford, W6ROD, of the American Radio Relay League, which serves as the IARU International Secretariat, the Council received the nominations of Larry E. Price, W4RA, for the office of IARU President and David A. Wardlaw, VK3ADW, for the office of Vice President for five-year terms beginning May 9, 1999 and unanimously recommended that the nominations be ratified by the member-societies. Mr. Owen had announced at the meeting a year earlier that he had declined nomination for another term.

2. The Council reviewed the implications of the postponement of the next World Radiocommunication Conference until the year 2000, and the deletion of certain items from the conference agenda by the ITU Council. While this WRC will be held somewhat later than originally expected, preparations for it and the subsequent WRC in 2002 or 2003 are ongoing and IARU participation, in the preparatory meetings as well as in the conference itself, remains essential.

3. The Council recognized the growing importance of submitting professional-quality documentation on behalf of IARU to the ITU and regional telecommunications bodies, and adopted a procedure designed to ensure that submissions are consistent with IARU policy. The ITU meetings at which IARU representation will be required during 1999 were identified and the appointment of representatives was announced by the President after consultation with the International Secretariat.

4. The status of the action plan developed by the 7 MHz Strategy Committee and previously adopted by the Council was reviewed and updated in light of developments since the previous meeting of the Council.

5. The Council accepted a fourth report of the Future of the Amateur Service Committee (FASC) which was prepared taking into account recommendations of the previous three regional conferences and adopted guiding principles for possible revision of Article S25. It was the view of the Council that there should be no reduction in the minimum qualifications for a license to operate an amateur station. At the same time, the Council recognized the desirability of stating the technical and operational qualifications for an amateur license in a mandatory Recommendation rather than in the Radio Regulations themselves, and requested that the members of FASC continue to develop a draft of such a Recommendation for consideration by the Council.

6. A budget for 1999-2001 was adopted as submitted by the International Secretariat. The budget includes provision for financial contributions from the three regional organizations to defray a portion of the expenses that are assumed by the International Secretariat beyond its constitutional obligation.

7. A report was received on Amateur Radio participation in Africa TELECOM 98 in South Africa, which was organized successfully by Region 1 in accordance with IARU policy. Planning for IARU participation in the next World TELECOM (Geneva, 1999) was reviewed.

8. The action plan for 1999-2000 associated with the IARU Strategic Plan for the Development of Support for Amateur Radio was updated. The action plan has the goal of employing resources to enhance the support for Amateur Radio in Africa. The implementation of the plan will be coordinated between the International Secretariat and IARU Region 1.

9. Region 1 announced that the Pan-African Telecommunication Union has given final approval to a Memorandum of Understanding between PATU and IARU Region 1. The Council applauded this step toward improved liaison with administrations in Africa.

10. The present and anticipated future requirements for radio spectrum allocations to the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite Services were reviewed, updated, and approved, with special emphasis on the frequencies in the upper part of the spectrum.

11. Principles to guide IARU response to proposals for adjustments in the amateur allocations between 71 and 275 GHz were agreed. These principles are intended to protect the utility of the amateur allocations while providing a reasonable measure of flexibility to permit the critical requirements of other services to be met, particularly those that are compatible sharing partners

12. Recognizing that the Amateur Services will be in a better position to be of assistance to the public once the Tampere Convention on the Provision of Telecommunication Resources for Disaster Relief and Mitigation is brought into force, the Council encouraged member societies to urge their respective administrations to accede to the Convention, and decided to seek specific inclusion of the Amateur Services in documents implementing the provisions of the Convention.

13. The final report of the Monitoring System Review Committee was adopted, and the committee was thanked for their excellent work. The charge to the committee was to review the terms of reference of the IARU Monitoring System and make such recommendations as it deemed appropriate. Furthermore, the International Secretariat was requested to harmonize the existing IARU policy with regard to the Monitoring System with the report of the committee and to circulate the draft policy revisions to the Council for consideration at its next meeting.

14. The report of the Amateur Radio Outlook Committee was accepted and the committee was discharged. The committee's task, to make general recommendations as to the future growth and development of Amateur Radio in the light of the Internet and other telecommunications developments, had turned out to be more difficult than expected in view of a perceived overlap between the responsibilities given to this committee and to other IARU committees.

15. Recognizing an ongoing need to review the structure of the IARU to ensure its long-term viability, the Council agreed to the appointment of a committee of not more than five persons to exchange papers identifying the issues facing the Amateur Radio Services in the challenging environment of the new millennium. The committee was asked to provide their first preliminary report 90 days prior to the 1999 meeting of the Council.

16. The report of the Public Relations Initiative Committee, PRICOM, was accepted. The Council agreed with the philosophy contained in the report and requested that the International Secretariat and Administrative Council member Tom Atkins, VE3CDM, work with the chairman of PRICOM, Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS5AKV, to see how and to what extent the proposals can be implemented.

17. Noting that all three regional organizations had responded to the Council's request to consider various possibilities for further development of the IARU Beacon Project, the Council adopted a resolution reflecting those principles on which consensus had been achieved. A new network of intra-regional beacons in the 28 and 50 MHz bands is envisaged.

18. Reports were received from the international coordinators and advisers who report to the Council on specialized areas of interest, and the following were reappointed to new three-year terms: Robert E. Knowles, ZL1BAD, IARU Monitoring System; Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS5AKV, IARU Satellite Adviser; and Christian M. Verholt, OZ8CY, IARU EMC Adviser. On the occasion of his recent retirement from the post, the Council noted with special appreciation the extraordinary contributions of John G. Troster, W6ISQ, as IARU Beacon Project Coordinator. On Mr. Troster's recommendation, Robert S. Fabry, N6EK, was appointed IARU Beacon Project Coordinator for a three-year term.

19. The next regular meeting of the Council will be held in Lillehammer, Norway, beginning on September 26, 1999, following the IARU Region 1 Conference.

The members of the Administrative Council are IARU President W1RU, Vice President VK3KI, Secretary W4RA, and regional representatives PA0LOU, SP5FM, VE3CDM, YV5BPG, ZL2AMJ, and JJ1OEY. Additional regional observers invited to be present were G3GVV, HC2EE, and VK3ADW.