NEWS – The decrease in the FCC General Mobile Radio Service radio license fee has been rumored for years.
I double-confirmed by two phone calls to the FCC today that the fee is officially now $35 for a ten-year license. The fee had been $70 for years.
The FCC’s various antiquated webpages do not reflect this change yet. The fee document I’m able to download is dated 2018. I’m also having trouble logging in to the FCC license fee payment webpage. Maybe their site will work properly in a few days?
One wonders how many people have skipped paying the license fee due to the difficulty of navigating the FCC’s web pages? They do not make it user-friendly.
But it’s official. Effective on April 19, 2022, GMRS radios working at or over 2 watts require licensure, but it just got more affordable.
For extra information, the Midland Radio website has useful information on how to use the FCC web pages. See: https://midlandusa.com/blogs/blog/why-do-i-need-a-gmrs-license-how-do-i-get-it
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Lex – I applied for mine at Noon EDT on the 19th. (site maintenance from 0600 to 1100)
Go through the Updated CORES System, as
opposed to the Legacy CORES System.
The picture shows an FRS radio which does not require a license.
Some of the channels on the COTRE (and other radios) output at two watts and other channels at lower power, so use of those 2 watt channels does require a license.
Enter Nelson Muntz…
I refuse to ask permission for, or pay a fee to exercise my freedom of speech and expression. I am free to speak my mind and communicate in any manner that I please, even if I choose to do so electromagnetically. The FCC can get bent.
Absolutely. The airwaves should be free.
until the US Marshal shows up.
Dang… It’s $35 oh, come on.
Cool! If caught fines start at around $7,000.
There are many options of gmrs and Frs radios there junk Walmart radios and better radios on Amazon type accepted as GMRS radios As lisenses free 2watts or less on either service cause frs radios from “past radios are 1 watt or so less ch 1-7 on 462 mhz and chs 8-14 are on 467 mhz which gets out less being 5 mhz higher.less transmit recieve.
As understood you can operate GMRS freqs on simplex output freq mode
As least as lisenses free.GMRS .
There are community repeaters that a licensed operator will set up say 462.700/ 467.700 with access pl tone in order for you to operate on 5mhz split. But you must write to owner and ask permission to ta ll k on it . This makes a paid license more desirable to have. But most places have no repeaters so people operate handhelds licenses free simplex direct and don’t get the paid licenses . Also there’s MURS radios vhf which get out further & free of paid license. But gmrs same channel splits and output simplex channels offering less security and interference from others potty mouth and store clean up isle 3 talk.
When it don’t require a FRN number and simple sign up takes 3 minutes to get a licenses that’s when more people will care it’s about licenses. It”s time drop paid licenses anyhow it’s 2022. Get a CB or ham radio if you want take radio hobby further. No repeaters in lot areas means no drive for people to pay to talk then radios do 50 watts cost even more.
“MURS radios vhf which get out further & free of paid license“
You are so right. Much better range and probably less busy as well.
Now I see why you talk on the radio, because it was so hard to understand what you were saying between lack of punctuation, bad grammar, and misspelled words! A radio is probably the only way anybody I can understand you!
As of 2017, the FCC changed FRS to 22 channels, with UpTo 2watts on 1-7+15-22. Therefore, that radio is classified as a FRS radio.
Google FCC FRS, and click the last tab, were they state almost all combo service radios are reclassified as FRS.
I just filled out all the required forms through the FCC and it cost me $35. This was at 1800 on April 20th.
Me too…got my call sign last night…35 bucks.
I haven’t met a single person who actually has a license, its basically a higher frequency CB.
But now the have fees for ham licensing so I guess we helped fund the lower costs.
Jason, we have hundreds of LICENSED users here in the South West. Unlicensed users rarely get conversation.
it’s about time the FCC dropped the fees they charge for not doing anything about phone spammers costing the country billions in fraud every year.
I ain’t paying to use free airways
Fish on
I think most people using GMRS are communicating with someone they know, a farm house to the equipment in the field, off roaders talkking from one rig to another on a trail ride, a car club on a cruise, a family or friends road trip. I dont see it becoming something like the CB where everyone runs the same channel and talks to random people. My guess is even at $35 there are a lot more unlicensed operators than licensed ones using GMRS.