In brief
- The Australian Government is seeking public comment on the benefits and costs of maximising Australia's "digital dividend" following the switchover from analogue to digital television broadcasting.
- The Government has announced a target digital dividend of 126 MHz of contiguous UHF spectrum in the 700 MHz band, consistent with other developed nations. ACMA has also released a paper calling for comment on a further release in the 2.5 GHz band to support 4G mobile broadband networks.
- In realising the dividend, there is a need to balance the benefits of efficient allocation against the disruption to current spectrum users, such as the inconvenience caused to television viewers and broadcasters if restacking and reallocation of existing broadcasting services may be required.
On 5 January 2010, the Australian Government released a green paper seeking public comment on the benefits and costs of maximising Australia's "digital dividend" - the radio-frequency spectrum that will be freed up as a result of the switchover from analogue to digital television broadcasting.
Objectives
The Government has completed a process of technical study to identify the amount and location of spectrum that can be potentially released and has established the following broad principles it intends to use in managing the allocation:
- optimal use of spectrum is most likely to be achieved by allowing the market to determine the outcome after public interest issues have been appropriately addressed by the Government;
- larger contiguous blocks are more economically optimal than smaller or interleaved blocks;
- Australia should align spectrum allocation with international approaches being adopted by other major developed countries, at the risk of being precluded from developments in communications technology and equipment; and
- the approach to realising the dividend should be determined, recognising the need to balance efficiency in allocation against the disruption to current spectrum users, including the inconvenience caused to television viewers and broadcasters.
In light of the above, the Government has announced a target digital dividend of 126 MHz of contiguous UHF spectrum in the 700 MHz band, consistent with similar releases in the United States (108 MHz) and the United Kingdom (128 MHz).
In achieving its objective of establishing a relatively large, contiguous block of spectrum, the Government acknowledges that this will come at some cost and disruption, given the need to clear the relevant frequency range and potentially re-stack existing broadcasting services.
The Government calls for comments on the economic and productivity benefits that a consolidated digital dividend could bring, and the financial and consumer impact of the disruption caused by re-stacking affected broadcasting services and the subsequently reduced size of the broadcasting services band.
National Broadband Network and spectrum implications
The Government wishes to consider the implications for the use of spectrum in light of the potential growth of mobile wireless broadband services which is likely to be driven by the expansion of fixed-line broadband capacity delivered through the Government's $43 billion fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) national broadband network initiative over the next 8 years.
The FTTP network may reduce demand for fixed wireless broadband services in metropolitan areas where these have been used to service broadband black-spots. However, it is also likely that there will be growing demand and reliance on mobile wireless broadband services as technology and user preference continues to mature.
Each of these trends has implications for spectrum allocation. How much spectrum may be required for such purposes, how many networks may need to be accommodated to support a competitive communications industry and the timing requirements for access to such spectrum are all issues on which the Government is seeking views.
Further developments
Following the release of the Government's green paper, ACMA released a further discussion paper on 12 January 2010 addressing the implications of a proposed additional reallocation of spectrum in the 2.5 GHz frequency range, primarily to support the development of 4G mobile broadband networks in Australia.
ACMA is seeking views on pricing, planning and licensing arrangements for the spectrum, as well as comment on the potential impact on broadcasters currently using the spectrum for electronic news gathering services. Options include reviewing planning arrangements to provide more flexibility for broadcasters currently operating in the band or a reallocation of the band and reissue of technology-flexible spectrum licences.
For more information about ACMA's discussion paper see our article Open access for digital dividend – is it a dream? ACMA Report
in this edition.
The Government's green paper has called for submissions on managing allocation of the digital dividend by 26 February 2010. ACMA has called for further submissions by 12 March 2010.