Originally Posted by
Captain Stable
Sorry, Keef, but licences for home radios were abolished in 1971. There is no such thing as a "blanket" licence.
I was around in 1971. I remember the day when sound broadcast licences no longer had to be bought. However, I also listen to other services (like the standard frequency transmissions put out by various agencies) and there was some discussion about how they were to be covered.
I don't have my copy of the official (1971? - not sure of the exact date) document up here with me, but I recall some "wording" along the lines of ""General Exemption Terms" which covered sound broadcasting, standard frequency services, and others. You didn't need to "buy" a licence: you were "deemed" to have one. That may have changed in the intervening years - I haven't bothered to follow it up. My amateur radio licence has recently become "fee free" - but I still have to have one.
You do need a licence to listen to aircraft radio: those are issued to the aircraft. The operator needs a FRTOL to use the radio. Away from the aircraft, there is no licence and in theory it's illegal to listen to airband. Nobody has been prosecuted for that in living memory.
I'm sure a lawyer could tell us whether a licence is needed (and deemed to exist) for cellular phones, sound broadcast, etc. Personally I'm not bothered - but it could have a bearing if we really care about the legality of using a cellphone in an aircraft.
Anyway, the horse is very dead. Time to stop flogging it.