Historical Licensing Eras

A 37-year lineage of the General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) across 5 distinct regulatory and technical eras.

Total Active Licenses observed
468,147
All active licenses in FCC ULS
Part 95 Reform (10-Yr) observed
452,667
96.7% of active licenses (2017–present)
Grandfathered Legacy observed
15,480
3.3% maintained by consecutive renewal
Total Historical in DB observed
622,878
Cumulative records across all 5 eras

The 5 Licensing Eras

Detailed breakdown of each major era in GMRS history.

Era 01

Legacy GMRS Era

KA* (e.g. KAA–KAE)
525 Active Licenses
13,744 Total in DB
Original Timeline 1970s – 1988 (earliest DB record: 1988-11-22)
License Term 5-Year (renewed to 10-Year)
Assignment Type Grandfathered / Renewal

Assigned under original Part 95 Class A/B rules. Grandfathered individual licensees maintain their call signs through consecutive renewals.

Era 02

Early ULS / Pre-Digital Era

WP* (e.g. WPA–WPZ)
1,334 Active Licenses
43,858 Total in DB
Original Timeline 1999 – 2004
License Term 5-Year (renewed to 10-Year)
Assignment Type Grandfathered / Renewal

Initial deployment of the computerized Universal Licensing System (ULS).

Era 03

Pre-Reform 5-Year Era

WQ* (e.g. WQA–WQZ)
13,621 Active Licenses
112,057 Total in DB
Original Timeline 2004 – 2017
License Term 5-Year (renewed to 10-Year post-2017)
Assignment Type Grandfathered / Renewal

Standard 5-year personal and commercial GMRS licenses prior to Part 95 reform. Records shown are active holders who renewed.

Era 04

Part 95 Reform Initial Rollout

WR* (WRA–WRZ)
227,044 Active Licenses
227,457 Total in DB
Original Timeline Sep 29, 2017 – Dec 30, 2023
License Term 10-Year
Assignment Type Sequential 2×3 Rollout

FCC Report & Order FCC 17-57 doubled license terms to 10 years, eliminated new commercial entities, and reset sequential issuance starting at WRAA001.

Era 05

Modern Sequential Series

WS* (WSA onward)
225,623 Active Licenses
225,762 Total in DB
Original Timeline Dec 30, 2023 – Present
License Term 10-Year
Assignment Type Sequential 2×3 Rollout

Current sequential assignment block series, covering the post-April 2022 $35 fee intake through the current block.

Grandfathered Non-Individual Licenses

Breakdown of active licenses by FCC entity classification. Under 47 CFR § 95.1705(a), only individuals may receive new GMRS authorizations.

Total Non-Individual 62 0.013% of national active base
Municipal & Government 26 Emergency & public safety auxiliaries
Corporate & Business — Commercial licenses granted pre-1987
Associations & Partnerships — Clubs and agricultural partnerships
Entity Classification FCC Code Active Licenses Share of Total Eligibility Status Regulatory Basis & Operational Scope
Individual I 468,083 100.0% Open for New Grants Standard personal authorization under 47 CFR § 95.1705(a); covers licensee and immediate family.
Government / Municipal Grandfathered G 26 <0.01% Renewal Only (Frozen) Municipal fire, police auxiliary, and local government disaster communication networks.
Corporation / Business Grandfathered C — — Renewal Only (Frozen) Commercial and utility operations licensed prior to July 31, 1987; non-transferable.
Unincorporated Association Grandfathered U — — Renewal Only (Frozen) Volunteer radio clubs and emergency groups holding grandfathered club station licenses.
Partnership Grandfathered P — — Renewal Only (Frozen) Agricultural and small commercial partnerships established under pre-1987 rules.

A count under 25 is suppressed and shows as —. 2 active licenses carry no recognised entity type code and are in none of these rows.

Statutory Basis: 47 CFR § 95.1705(g)

Non-individual entities holding a GMRS license issued before July 31, 1987 keep a grandfathered authorization. The rule is narrow about what that authorization covers: under 47 CFR § 95.1705(g) such a license permits “only continued operation of those specific stations by these licensees, at the specified locations, channels, antenna heights and transmitting power.” Under § 95.1705(a), only an individual at least 18 years old may obtain a new GMRS license, so no further non-individual authorizations are issued.

Key Regulatory & System Milestones

The key events that shaped modern GMRS licensing.

Date / Period Milestone Impact on Licensing & Call Signs
1988-11-22 Earliest Database Record Grant date of KAE5138, the oldest recorded license in the current FCC ULS dataset.
1996-01-12 Digital Application Repository Earliest electronic application record (9601D015857) captured in ULS backfile conversion.
1999 Universal Licensing System (ULS) Rollout FCC transitioned GMRS licensing from regional offices to the centralized online ULS; began sequential WP* block issuance.
2017-09-29 FCC Part 95 Reform (R&O FCC 17-57) Landmark reform: doubled license terms to 10 years, shared FRS/GMRS channels, eliminated new business licenses, and reset sequential call signs at WRAA001.
2022-04-19 FCC Application Fee Reduction In April 2022 the FCC cut the GMRS licence fee from $70 to $35. New license applications averaged 4,184 a month in the year before (April 2021 to March 2022) and 5,790 a month in the year after (May 2022 to April 2023), with 9,274 in April 2022 itself. Applications were already rising before the cut, and later years rose and fell as much with no fee change, so this site doesn't attribute the change to the fee. The busiest month on record is 2024-10, with 13,577 new applications.
2023-12-30 WRA–WRZ Exhaustion & WSA Rollover All 21 Part 95 WR* series blocks completed; issuance rolled over to the WSA series.
2027-10-01 First 10-Year Renewal Wave (Projected) The first 10-year licenses granted in late 2017 will reach maturity, creating the first measurable 10-year renewal rate cohort.