This is the thin end of the wedge, the first time ofcom attempted this they took on the whole industry and all aeronautical radio bands.
The first set of proposals would have cost the airlines a lot just for the Rad Alt (£30K per aircraft per year I think) and if that wasnot a tax on safety I don't know what is as the primary use of a Rad Alt in an airliner is GPWS.
As you might have expected the responce from industry was robust to say the least, so what ofcom is up to now is spliting the industry and picking off the radio bands one at a time.
The airlines need to understand that this is just the thin end of the wedge and the whole aviation sector needs to respond in a very robust way before Ofcom get this one past the industry and then start on the next aviation radio band.
The goverment will only understands the harm that this will do to the UK economy when the airlines move the aircraft to another EEC state and dont have to pay this ofcom tax and a lot of other taxes to the UK Goverment.
The bottom line is that if Ofcom get away with this tax it will make the UK aviation sector less compeditive and drive total UK tax income down.
I have writen a very robust responce to this tax, and I urge you all to do the same, as for the LAA I think that they should talk to the airlines to make sure that they understand what Ofcom are up to, The airlines will be very a powerfull force to help us if they know what is good and will help us nip this in the bud.