Originally Posted by Jim59
The answer to this question is, at the moment, YES!
Absolute Rubbish!
The various certificates and licences set out the privileges associated with the bit of paper. A FRTOL, of whatever vintage or validity, has never conferred any privileges to routinely operate an AGCS radio station.
As has been pointed out, there was a time when you could simply request a Certificate of Competence for an AGCS ground station if you had a FRTOL but this stopped some years ago. I believe the argument was that just because someone knows how to operate a radio doesn't mean they know what to say/do to provide an AGCS.
What you have to do in order to operate an AGCS station after you get a Certificate of Competence has been set out in a CAP for years.
Having heard some complete tosh spoken by AGCS radio operators I agree with an earlier post (which has now been pulled) that an overhaul of the AGCS is long overdue.