PipeHawk announces that Ofcom has issued the first licences to operate GPR equipment to PipeHawk plc and Adien Limited, heralding the official acceptance of GPR as a maturing technology. Prior to this, the legislative status of GPR as a technology was ambiguous with Euro GPR Association members operating under a waiver. GPR is a UWB technology that radiates short duration pulses which appear in the frequency domain as a very low signal across wide spectral regions and does not fit into the normal radio licensing regime. The UK licensing arrangements were negotiated by Dr Richard Chignell, PipeHawk's Technical Director, a past Chairman and currently licensing officer of the Euro GPR Association. Negotiations continue, for a consistent Europe wide licensing regime. The Board expects that the new UK scheme will have a seamless transition to the anticipated European scheme. Gordon Watt, Chairman of PipeHawk plc, said 'This is a significant advance for PipeHawk as it means GPR is now an acknowledged and regulated technology, and all companies which purport to use GPR must now be registered and regulated to operate legally.'