In article , Alun
writes:

Maybe someone in the FCC is a pro code test ham who is delaying the
process?

Maybe. Or maybe it's just not a high priority to FCC.

The FCC in general has been in favour of removing the requirement
for a long time.

That's what I thought, based on the Report and Order to 98-143. But maybe
that's changedsince 1999.

The US may be the last country to abolish the code test, the way things are
going. Mind you, AFAIK the code test has still not been abolished in Spain
or Italy(?), although I don't think there's a code test anywhere else much
in Europe anymore.

What about the former "Soviet Bloc" countries? Scandinavia? How about New
Zealand, Asia, Africa, South America?

Canada is only now proposing to change the code test rules. And Japan, long the
poster country for no-codetest-HF ham licenses, hasn't changed anything.

Is the 5 wpm test really such a big deal?

73 de Jim, N2EY