Industry members should capitalise on training opportunities

As Paul Davis leaves us to venture into new areas of marketing, on behalf of the RFUANZ committee and members we would like to thank Paul for his professionalism and attention to detail to ensure the Comms Connect/RFUANZ annual exhibition and gala dinner were so successful over the past five years. Paul, we wish you well in all your future endeavours.

A requirement of the Association is to host an annual general meeting, which is usually held during the annual Comms Connect exhibition. This year, as this was not possible, we will be hosting a special one-hour Zoom meeting on 11 November 2020 between 4:00 and 5:00 pm. Please contact our administrator to register your interest in attending, complete with the preferred email for us to contact you.

The agenda, chairman and treasurer reports will be posted out to all members on 5 October 2020. Nominations for the RFUANZ committee will also be required, as three current members will be standing down. Please consider joining your committee to ensure the protection and preservation of spectrum in the industry.

RFUANZ met with Radio Spectrum Management in July to discuss various matters, including: 60 GHz and 5 GHz GURL licences are being looked at in comparison with other countries with some modifications expected before the end of this year; the memorandum account reserve built up over a number of years from revenue received for licences is reducing with the current balance as at 30 June 2020 being $9.2 million; and RSM and RFUANZ have entered discussions around Level 4 NZQA training and also training pathways for ARC and ARE qualifications.

During this time of COVID-19, the potential to upskill yourself has become much more readily available. Several of our member organisations are offering online learning courses. Tait Radio Academy, Go Wifi, Zetron, Cambium Networks and Electrotest are all offering opportunities to learn. We fully support and encourage you to participate in these online courses.

The RFUANZ is working with interested parties on the development of a Level 4 NZQA certification specific to radio communications. This is part of the overall plan to have a nationally recognised qualification for people entering the radio communications industry. RFUANZ has reached out to WISPA, RSM and a number of ITOs to try to reach industry consensus on what the training needs to cover and the best way to deliver it. RFUANZ would welcome member input into what the industry needs from the training.

Are you thinking of becoming an approved radio engineer? Criteria on how to become an approved radio engineer or certifier can be found on the RSM website at https://www.rsm.govt.nz/engineers-and-examiners/how-to-become-an-approved-radio-engineer-or-certifier/. For more information please contact RSM on info@rsm.govt.nz.

Corey Weir

Chairman

Radio Frequency Users Association of New Zealand