1992 NZART Guidelines
For Third-party Traffic
Phone Patch

The New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters Incorporated

Published in Break-In, April 1992, page 39

Attention is drawn to the Radiocommunications Regulations and Schedule 3 attached to the amateur radio licence.

All amateurs must observe the regulatory requirements and are asked to observe the following standards carefully, so our traditional freedom from further government regulation may be preserved as much as possible.

1. International phone patches must be conducted only when there is a special third-party agreement between the countries concerned. The only exception is when the immediate safety of life or property is endangered.
2. Phone patches involving the business affairs of any party must not be conducted at any time. The content of any patch should be such that it is clear to any listener that business communication is not involved. Particular caution must be observed when calling any business telephone. Calls to place an order for a commercial product must not be made, nor may calls to one's office to receive or leave business messages. However, calls in the interests of highway safety such as for the removal of injured persons from the scene of an accident or for the removal of a disabled vehicle from a hazardous location are permitted.
3. All phone patch equipment connected to any company's lines must meet the required technical specifications and performance, and have the appropriate permit requirements from that company for such equipment to be connected to its lines.
4. Phone patches should never be made to avoid telephone company toll charges. Phone patches should never be made when normal telephone service could just as easily be used.
5. Third parties should not be retransmitted on-air until a responsible amateur radio operator has explained to them the nature of amateur radio. Control of a station must never be relinquished to an unlicensed person. Permitting a person you don't know very well in a language you don't understand amounts to relinquishing control.
6. Phone patches must be terminated immediately in the event of any illegality or impropriety.
7. Phone patch facilities must not be used for the broadcasting of information of interest to the general public. If a a repeater has the capability of transmitting information such as weather reports, which is of interest to the general public, such transmission must occur only when requested by a licensed amateur and must not conform to a specific time schedule. The retransmission of radio signals from other radio services by the Amateur Service is not permitted. However the retransmission of some tape material from other sources is sometimes permitted.
8. Station callsign and identification procedures must be strictly observed in the accepted way for the Amateur Service.
9. In selecting frequencies for phone patch work, the particular rights of other amateurs must be observed.
10. Phone patches should be kept as brief as possible, as a courtesy to other amateurs. The amateur bands are intended to be used primarily for communication among radio amateurs.
11. If you have any doubts as to the legality or advisability of a patch, don't make it.

Compliance with these guidelines will help ensure that our interconnection privileges will continue to be available in future, which will in turn help us to contribute to the public interest.

Summary

Phone-patch users must ensure that the Radiocommunications Regulations and licence requirements are observed at all times including:

1. that the traffic handled is "brief personal messages" only, not business or commercial, and only within New Zealand,
2. that callsigns are properly used,
3. that non-amateurs are never in control of an amateur station, and,
4. that the "phone patch" equipment has the proper authorisation to permit its connection to the public switched telephone network.