If the chart provided by Maria Somma survives the trip through cyberspace to your computer, you will see that the number of new FCC licenses issued continues to trend upward. Through the first seven months of 2009 it is running 7.7% ahead of last year, which - if this continues - will put the number at just over 30,000 for the year. NEW FCC LICENSES ISSUED 2005 THROUGH JULY 2009 Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Jan 876 1,274 1,647 1,755 1,960 Feb 1,357 1,605 2,435 2,998 2,263 Mar 1,705 2,531 3,478 2,816 3,463 Apr 1,486 1,728 2,673 3,090 3,430 May 1,651 2,283 2,607 2,562 2,717 June 1,493 1,967 2,281 2,402 3,011 July 906 1,401 1,786 2,077 2,220 Aug 1,500 1,623 2,183 2,084 Sep 1,139 1,357 1,462 1,763 Oct 1,385 1,781 2,109 2,303 Nov 1,540 1,993 2,132 2,197 Dec 1,330 1,569 1,935 2,019 Totals 16,368 21,112 26,728 28,066 19,064 New licensing is finally overcoming the inertia of the 10-year license term; according to Joe Speroni's figures at www.ah0a.org, total licenses now in force are up by about 14,000 over a year ago, to more than 674,000. That's not an all-time high, but another year of similar growth will put us there. Dave K1ZZ