OFCOM Chaos

I had a nice e-mail today from OFCOM.  It was the second e-mail I've had in recent weeks about the same topic.

I'd asked for a non-standard GB callsign to be used in the Spring.  The first e-mail was dry and disinterested, telling me to simply apply by the standard online form - which, as I already knew, does not allow for non-standard callsigns!

Weeks later, the second e-mail arrived.  This tells me that OFCOM are happy to grant the non-standard call sought, subject to the usual proviso that the organisation being celebrated agrees to be linked to it.

I'm not sure what the hell is going on within OFCOM.  It was very simple, very clear request for something that is not so unusual; non-standard calls appear in the UK regularly.  For all the world, it seems the first responder simply didn't read past the subject line, ignoring the content of the letter sent.

Well, I have only recently warned the Australians, whose licence is, like the UK, about to become free of charge.  Whilst it looks like something to be celebrated, it really isn't.  As the old saying goes, 'you get what you pay for'.  When you pay nothing, you get...