three. Authorization of Advanced Class amateur radio operators to prepare and administer examinations for the General Class license. Elimination of station licenses for the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES). In addition to the above changes, the FCC instituted an additional system of identification for all licensees (even beyond amateur radio itself) in the United States, named the "CORES" (COmmission REgistration System"), which added a ten-digit "FRN" ("FCC Registration Number") to all licensees' paper licenses, generally in the same Y2K-timeframe. With the rule simplification, all pre-1987 Technician operators were now qualified to become General class operators, having already passed both the theory and code exams now required for the higher class. All that was necessary was to apply for the General license, usually through a "paper upgrade" (often done through existing amateur radio clubs) to achieve the license acquisition. The restructuring also enabled a pre-1987 Technician operator to become an Extra operator simply by passing the element 4 theory examination. Additionally, an expired or unexpired Novice class license could be used as credit toward the 5 WPM Morse code examination when upgrading. With the change, Technicians who could pass the 5 WPM Morse code examination were given the same HF-band privileges as the Technician Plus class, although the FCC's callsign database no longer distinguished between those Technician licensees possessing HF privileges and those who did not. End of Morse code requirement In 2003, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) ratified changes to the Radio Regulations to allow each country to determine whether it would require a person seeking an amateur radio operator license to demonstrate the ability to send and receive Morse code. The effect of this revision was to eliminate the international requirement that a person demonstrate Morse code proficiency in order to qualify for an amateur radio operator license with transmitting privileges on frequencies below 30 MHz. With this change of international rules, the FCC announced on December 15, 2006 that it intended to adopt rule changes which would eliminate the Morse code requirement for amateur operator licenses. Shortly thereafter, the effective date of the new rules was announced as February 23, 2007. After that date, the FCC immediately granted the former Technician Plus privileges to all Technician Class operators, consolidating the class into a single set of rules. Following the change in requirements, the ARRL reported a significant increase in the number of applications for licensing. Call signs