Seriously though folks...no need to panic.
Whilst ICAO has indeed stipulated that you have to be ICAO 4 compliant by March 2008, there is an extension period of two, maybe even three years because this is proving to be much more difficult than originally anticipated.
I am busting my ass off over here at the moment getting everyone up to speed on the ATC end of it, whilst my colleague has been flying up and down and left and right in the GCC testing pilots, controllers and a host of other "industry" people.
Those who are compliant are left alone. Those who are not, get sent to me.
Some need a complete re-education in RT and some even need to go back to General Aviation English courses.
Whilst there is a clear desire from all the authorities in the region to become compliant, it will take a lot longer than 4 months to bring them all the way there.
I have already posted a tome on the "grandfathering" issue a while back.
The most recent news that has almost doubled the workload for RT instructors around the globe is that even native speakers need to be tested because one of the criteria for Level 4 is "proper use of phraseology".
This is going to surprise quite a few native speakers, especially some of those in the US who, despite being fantastic controllers, need to have a serious look at how they say things.
I for one feel that the whole ICAO Levels system is a great idea, however, I do feel that a lot of the human edge of RT may disappear over time.