SPECTRUM ALLOCATION: 3G MOBILE, DIGITAL TV

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SPECTRUM ALLOCATION 3G MOBILE, DIGITAL TV
WIRELESS19 March 2001

• Tony Shaw
• Chairman
• Australian Communications Authority

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Spectrum Allocation

• Spectrum is a scarce resource
• Need to allocate between competing interests
• commercial
• carriers, SMEs
• community
• ambulance, fire fighting etc
• national
• Defence, police etc

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Government Policy Objectives

• efficient and open communications market
• self-regulation
• lower regulatory costs

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The Regulatory Framework
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International Obligations

• Radio Regulations constitute an international
  treaty
• ACA contributes to ITU fora to ensure decisions
  are in Australias best interests
• domestic laws and practices align with ITU
  decisions

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National Regulation

• Legislation
• Radiocommunications Act 1992
• Telecommunications Act 1997
• Australian Communications Authority Act 1997

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Australian Radiofrequency Spectrum Plan

• Australian Radiofrequency spectrum Plan
• allocates bands of spectrum to broad types of
  service
• aligned as closely as possible to international
  spectrum arrangements where they exist
• revised following each ITU WRC

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Bandplanning

• Planning necessary to ensure
• efficient use
• capacity to meet a wide variety of user needs,
  particularly for emerging services and
  technologies
• consistency with international spectrum
  allocation principles

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Licensing

• Apparatus Licences
• approx 200,000 on issue
• technology specific
• issued for max. of 5 years
• necessarily prescriptive
• issued over the counter
• occasionally auctioned
• Class Licences
• public park spectrum

• Spectrum Licences
• spectrum access right
• technology-neutral
• fully tradeable
• issued for up to 15 years
• usually auctioned

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Spectrum Licensing

• Decisions about allocation left to the market as
  much as possible.
• Licensees have freedom to shift their services
  and technologies in response to market changes
• ACA committed to self-management in
  radiocommunications.

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Licence Terms

• Under Radiocommunications Act 1992 maximum
  licence periods are
• 5 years for an apparatus licence
• 15 years for a spectrum licence
• No guarantee of renewal

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Changing spectrum use

• Balancing demands
• incumbents need certainty
• compensation?
• aspirations of new players
• quick band clearance
• expectations of community to new services

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Accommodating change

• Flexibility to introduce new services
• band planning
• re-allocating encumbered spectrum
• allocating spectrum licences
• converting existing licensees
• Tradable licences

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Allocating to Users

• Issue over the counter
• licence fees ration access
• Issue between competing players
• Price based allocation
• Issue to community uses
• ambulance, fire fighting etc

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Issue over the counter

• If prices set appropriately, efficiency of
  spectrum use will be enhanced
• use minimum bandwidth
• use most appropriate band and
• use most efficient technology.
• provide a monetary return to the community

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Excess Demand

• Beauty Parade
• open to legal challenge
• time consuming
• Auctions
• quick, transparent, fair and efficient

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Auctions

• ACA has auctioned more spectrum than any other
  country except the USA
• using both open out cry and simultaneous
  multiround
• 3G underway

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Competition considerations

• ACCC has primary responsibility for TPA.
• Beyond that the Minister can reserve spectrum for
  new players and set bidding caps in auctions.
• ACA consults with ACCC and implements Ministers
  directions

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Summary

• efficiency is best served when resources are
  allocated to those placing the highest value on
  them
• competition will ensure better outcomes for
  consumers than heavy government regulation
• businesses are better placed to make commercial
  decisions in a fast changing environment than
  governments.

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ACAs Challenge

• to create and maintain a framework which
  supports competition and self-regulation
• If the regulator can get the underlying
  principles right then the market will take care
  of itself

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Thank you

• www.aca.gov.au