| Licencing Getting a licence to operate from 3C was initially very difficult. I had a lot of input from 3C5I Alan, who was very active from here but only on 6Mtrs. Alan had copies of all my papers, my licence fee (UK£260!!!) etc but he was told by the Minister for communications that I would have to visit the office in person. Well this was just not possible because when I arrive in the country I am flown directly to the platform and there I stay until the day I depart the |
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So I thought I was destined to work in 3C without ever holding a callsign which was quite
depressing. Well Alan has now left 3C for good and so I had to try another avenue. One of my night-shift local Radio Operator's has seen me operating with my home call/P and is quite interested so after a long discussion with him he seemed confident that he could get my licence. He picked up my documents from Alan, along with the CFA220,000 (UK£260!!!) and after about 4 trips to the Ministry (actually an office above the local post office) the Minister kindly allowed him to take all of the papers I had to sign so he could send them to the platform for me to sign and return. This was duly done and a couple of days later (5th April 2001) I was finally in possession of my 3C licence. Trying to arrange a licence before travelling used to be very difficult. However, there is now a company called the Bioko Business Centre and they have recently assisted Vitaly, VE6JO to get his licence issued prior to his arrival in Malabo. Contact details for the BBC are : Yolanda Asumu A fee is charged for their services but it seems that they are quite professional and can save a lot of time and hassle and can also assist you with an entry visa for Equatorial Guinea. Once you have your licence, it is much easier to renew but the renewal cost is still UK£200 so operating from here is by no means cheap. If you wish to try to apply for the licence direct (not recommended), then the relevant Minister's contact details are : Senor Fortunato Ncogo Nse If you come to the country you must have an entry visa and an address. There is a hotel downtown Malabo of decent quality which welcomes Amateur Radio Operators with a valid 3C licence and allows antennas to be erected on the roof. See Bahia Hotel link on menu for details. |
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