Anyone who received their amateur radio licence up to and including 30 November 2018, and had it issued as "open-ended" back then, will lose it – on a cut-off date that depends on the year in which the licence was granted. Do nothing, and you end up without a valid licence, and without a licence there is no legal on-air operation. But there is a simple way to keep everything.
Thanks to Josef, OE3FJS, for the idea behind this article – many people don't know this.
The next open deadline is 31 December 2026. It affects everyone whose open-ended licence was granted in a year whose last digit is a 0 or 1 (for example 2010, 2011, 2001, 1991 …). The table below shows in ten seconds whether it's your turn.
What is this about?
Until the end of 2018, amateur radio licences in Austria were generally issued as open-ended. Since a legislative amendment of 30 November 2018 (BGBl. I Nr. 78/2018), every new licence has been granted with a ten-year time limit – renewable for a further ten years each time with the same callsign. The old, open-ended licences are now being converted step by step to this system: they lapse staggered according to the last digit of the year they were granted, governed by § 212 Abs. 8 TKG 2021 (§ 212(8) of the Austrian Telecommunications Act 2021).
Am I affected?
You are only affected if both apply: your licence was granted up to and including 30 November 2018 and was issued as open-ended (with no expiry date) back then. The quickest check: look at your licence notice. If there is an expiry date on it, you're already in the new, time-limited system (and the authority reminds you six months in advance). If there is none, the staggered schedule below applies.
Your deadline is written in your year of issue
Take the year in which you received your open-ended licence and look at the last digit – find it in the left-hand column, and your cut-off date is on the right:
| Last digit of the year of issue | Example years | Licence lapses on |
|---|---|---|
| 6 or 7 | … 2006, 2007, 1996, 1997 … | 31 December 2024 (already passed) |
| 8 or 9 | … 2008, 2009, 1998, 1999 … | 31 December 2025 (already passed) |
| 0 or 1 | … 2010, 2011, 2000, 2001, 1990, 1991 … | 31 December 2026 ⬅️ next deadline |
| 2 or 3 | … 2012, 2013, 2002, 2003 … | 31 December 2027 |
| 4 | … 2014, 2004, 1994 … | 31 December 2028 |
| 5 | … 2015, 2005, 1995 … | 31 December 2029 |
Mnemonic: 6/7 → 2024, 8/9 → 2025, 0/1 → 2026, 2/3 → 2027, 4 → 2028, 5 → 2029.
Important: The staggering is based on the last digit, not the age of the licence – which is why a younger licence can come up sooner than an older one (one from 2018, for instance, sooner than one from 2015). That's not a mistake but by design: it spreads the changeover evenly across the years.
Careful: don't confuse it with the wrong regulation
A PDF with entirely different deadlines is doing the rounds – the "Repeal Regulation" (Außerkraftsetzungsverordnung) BGBl. II Nr. 139/2023 (before 1985 → 2025, 1985–1989 → 2026, and so on). This regulation does not apply to amateur radio: it concerns other open-ended radio-equipment licences and expressly excludes amateur radio licences in § 2. For us, what counts is solely the last digit of the year of issue under § 212 TKG 2021 – not the year ranges from the PDF.
What needs to be done?
- Wait for the notification – or take action yourself. The telecommunications office (Fernmeldebüro) notifies affected holders in writing before the deadline runs out (2025 cohort: from the end of August 2025; 2026 cohort with last digit 0/1 accordingly over the course of 2026). Anyone who knows it's their turn can also take the initiative themselves.
- Surrender and apply anew at the same time. You surrender your old open-ended licence and file a new application in the same step. That way your operation stays uninterrupted – you seamlessly receive the new, ten-year time-limited licence, as a rule with the same callsign.
- Fill in the form and send it. For this there is the "Application for the Issuance of an Amateur Radio Licence" (Antrag auf Ausstellung einer Amateurfunkbewilligung) from the telecommunications office. Fill it in, sign it, and send it to the telecommunications authority by email or post. If you don't want to change anything, just fill in the required fields and carry the rest over unchanged – that's the fastest route.
Do nothing, and the licence lapses on the cut-off date with no replacement – no valid notice, no legal on-air operation. One form, one signature, one email – and the callsign stays with you.
In one sentence
Licence up to and including 30 November 2018 and open-ended? Then: look up the last digit of your year of issue in the table, note your cut-off date, and file a surrender + new application in good time (one form to the telecommunications office) – then you keep transmitting without interruption.
Sources
- Fernmeldebüro – Expiry of open-ended licences from 1.1.2025
- Fernmeldebüro – Amateur radio service · Forms · Contact
- RIS – TKG 2021, § 212 Abs. 8 (last-digit schedule) and § 39 (ten-year time limit)
- RIS – BGBl. II Nr. 139/2023 (does not apply to amateur radio – see § 2)
- RIS – BGBl. I Nr. 78/2018 (introduction of the ten-year time limit, 30.11.2018)
General information, not legal advice. In case of doubt, the wording of your licence notice and the information from the telecommunications office apply. Questions or corrections? [email protected]
