In 1993, the FCC privatized examinations for Commercial Radio Operators' licenses, including the General Radiotelephone Operator's License and First, Second and Third Class Radio Telegraph Operator's Certificates. Between Monday, October 4 and Thursday, November 4, 2004, the FCC will accept applications for new Commercial Operator License Examination (COLE) managers.
Applicants will need to describe the entity to be certified, how it will resolve any conflicts of interest and its proposed fee structure. The FCC listed four criteria it will considering in deciding whether to certify an applicant as a COLE manager:
1) Experience and ability to administer qualification examinations both by means of computer and by written examinations.
2) Area applicant is willing to administer examinations. NOTE: Preference will be given to applicants that can provide nationwide testing and have existing administration infrastructure to do so.
3) Frequency of examinations that applicant is prepared to offer at each examination point. NOTE: Preference will be given to applicants that offer examinations on a more frequent basis.
4) Length of time before an applicant can begin administering examinations.
Questions used in the examinations are taken from a common question pool established by the FCC.
If you are interested in this, see the FCC Public Notice DA 04-2876: Commission Opens Filing Window For Commercial Operator License Examination Managers. Information on the COLE process is available on the FCC Search for Filed Comments web page, Enter "92-206" in box 1 (Proceeding) and, if you want to narrow the results, put "RO" in box 7 (Attorney Name).
