In the UK, a radio telephony licence is required to be held by anyone who operates the radio (if you don't have/don't operate a radio you don't require a licence). There are exemptions to the requirement to hold a licence, one of which is the dispensation given to student pilots. The restricted RT licence allowed you to operate radio equipment where you could not manually tune between the standard frequency spacings. As all modern radios do not allow you to do that anyway, the licence you would get on completion of the theoretical and practical exam would be un-restricted. The RT licence is a stand alone licence and you do not need to be a pilot to hold one.