BIPT

You can use this form to:

• Apply for a transmission licence.
• Apply for an additional callsign.
• Apply for a short call sign (vanity call). *
• Apply for a change of callsign.
• To apply for a duplicate of your transmit licence.
• To apply for a duplicate of your certificate.
• To apply for a morse certificate.
• To cancel your licence.
• Report a change in your contact details.
• To report a second residence.

You must sign the form electronically, using your electronic identity card and an EID reader. If you do not have an EID reader, you should print out the completed PDF form and e-mail a scanned, signed version to ram@bipt.be, together with a copy of your identity card.
Attention: You should download the PDF form (save it on your computer) and then open it with a recent version of Acrobat Reader. If you open the form in your browser, you will usually not be able to fill it in completely or it will not be saved correctly.

This form is for transmission licences of natural persons only.

Applying or changing a transmission licence (including applying for a special callsign) for club stations and unmanned stations should be done through the UBA:

• For club stations via Rik, ON7YD.
• For unmanned stations via Filip, ON4PC.

* = only for holders of a class A operating certificate (HAREC)

Where can I go with my questions?

If you have questions specifically about your own licence, it is best to contact BIPT directly:

• Via the online form (to apply for a licence or changes to your licence, see above).
• Via email to ram@bipt.be.
• By phone on 02/226.88.70 (Monday and Wednesday between 2pm and 4pm only).
• By fax at 02/226.87.64.
• In writing to BIPT - Licensing Department, Ellipse Building - Building C, Boulevard du Roi Albert II 35, 1030 Brussels.

If you have more general questions or proposals, it is best to contact the UBA, via the board member responsible for relations with BIPT (Rik, ON7YD). After all, it is almost impossible for BIPT to negotiate with each of the 5,000 licensed radio amateurs individually.

If you have questions about regulations, ask your CM in the first instance. He, or another member of your section, can usually help you. If not, you can contact the board member responsible for relations with BIPT (Rik, ON7YD).

What is BIPT?

In application of European provisions, the law of 21 March 1991 thoroughly reformed the organisation of the telecommunications sector in Belgium.

Just as for certain economic activities (banking, insurance, energy) an independent and impartial body watches over their proper functioning, the Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications (BIPT) was entrusted with the supervision of the telecommunications sector.

Its main tasks include:

• Approval of terminal equipment (increasingly a European matter),
• Control of connection to the public telecommunications infrastructure,
• Control of radio communications,
• Control of the operation of telecommunications services,
• Control of postal services.

Examinations

More information on this can be found on the webpage "radio amateur exam" in Dutch or "radio amateur exam" in French (see "Info").

Morse examination

Given the decisions taken by the ITU during WRC2003, BIPT decided to abolish the morse exam from the date of 1 August 2003.

Since some countries require, on top of the HAREC licence (or certificate), an attestation proving that a visitor wishing to transmit in that country under the T/R 61-01 privileges has passed a CW exam. Radio amateurs who previously passed a CW exam with the BIPT (or RTT) should in this case request a certificate from the BIPT (licences department). Since BIPT no longer administers CW exams itself, the UBA has proposed to BIPT to organise a CW exam in "subcontracting" to BIPT for radio amateurs who obtained a HAREC certificate or a class A operator's certificate after 1 August 2003. The morse exams will be announced on the UBA website.

Call signs

Ordinary call sign

The ordinary Belgian call signs are composed of the prefix ON followed by one digit (representing the class of the operating certificate) and two or three letters:

• ON1, ON4, ON5, ON6, ON7, ON8, ON9 = class A operating certificate (e.g. ON1AA, ON8XYZ).
• ON2 = class B operating certificate (e.g. ON2ZZ, ON2GHI).
• ON3 = class C operating certificate (e.g. ON3HH, ON3VBN).

Short call sign (vanity call)

HAREC licence holders can apply for a second (additional) callsign, of the format 2+1: one of the prefixes OO, OP, OQ, OR, OS or OT followed by one digit (0 to 9), and one letter (e.g. OO4K, OT7Y). To request an additional callsign, use the online BIPT form.

Special call sign

Club stations can apply for a special callsign on special occasions and for a limited period of time. This callsign is formed by the prefix ON, OO, OP, OQ, OR, OS or OT followed by a digit or by a combination of digits and letters (or letters only) ending in a letter (e.g. OP123ABC, ON78AZERTY, OT1XX1X).

Excluded are call signs by the prefix ON, OO, OP, OQ, OR, OS or OT followed by one digit and one, two or three letters (e.g. OT7ABC, OQ5YZ or OO4A).

Applying for a special callsign should be done through the UBA, using the form provided for this purpose. In this form, you will also find all the conditions and the procedure to be followed.

Special prefix

Recognised associations (such as UBA) may request a special prefix (OO, OP, OQ, OR, OS or OT) on the occasion of a special event and for all radio amateurs. In this case, radio amateurs who so wish can replace the prefix ON in their callsign with the special prefix. This does not apply to short call signs (vanity calls).

Applying for a Belgian call sign by persons with a foreign radio amateur transmit licence

Those holding a foreign radio amateur licence can apply for a Belgian callsign under certain conditions. The first condition is having a residential address in Belgium. After all, the call sign is attached to an operating certificate and this can only be obtained by persons with a place of residence in Belgium.

Furthermore, one must be able to prove that one has passed a radio amateur exam whose level corresponds (at least) to the Belgian class A, B or C exam.

Get a class A operating certificate and an ON1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 call sign:

• holders of a HAREC certificate issued by one of the CEPT T/R 61-02 countries,
• holders of a certificate equivalent to HAREC from a country with which Belgium has a bilateral agreement,
• holders of a certificate whose equivalence to HAREC has been verified by BIPT.

Get a class B operating certificate and an ON2 call sign:

• holders of a CEPT Novice certificate delivered by one of the ECC Recommendation (05)06 countries,
• holders of a certificate equivalent to CEPT Novice from a country with which Belgium has a bilateral agreement,
• holders of a certificate whose equivalence to CEPT Novice has been verified by BIPT.

Get a Class C operating certificate and an ON3 call sign:

• holders of a certificate for which BIPT has been able to verify that the examination is equivalent to the Belgian class C examination.