Digital Dividend Green Paper

Submission to the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

Prepared by Lynn Gailey with contributions from Ian Harvey and Richard Letts
February 26, 2010

The Music Council agrees with the Minister who, in his foreword to the Green Paper, says that while [s]pectrum is valuable to potential purchasers … of far greater benefit are the opportunities it can offer to all Australians by providing new services for individuals and businesses. The Music Council welcomes the Minister’s commitment that:

… there is no ‘either/or’ approach in terms of free-to-air digital television and the digital dividend. The Government is committed to ensuring that the high quality free-to-air digital services that Australians enjoy will continue to be provided.

The transition from analogue to digital offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity, an opportunity that must be seized for the benefit of all Australians.

The Music Council considers that the proposed spectrum stacking should accommodate capacity for the following:

• Three public free-to-air national broadcasters, with multi-channel capacity, namely the ABC, SBS and NITV.
• Four free-to-air national commercial broadcasters with multi-channel capacity – allowing for the continued existence of the incumbents and the possibility of a new entrant to drive competition, diversity and audience choice.
• The continued viability of community broadcasting – television and radio – following analogue switch-off.
• The needs of digital radio services in regional Australia.
• Allocation of spectrum for the adequate provision of government services including defence services, national security, law enforcement, emergency services, public and community services, health services and education.
• Accommodation of class-licensed uses for wireless audio devices including radio microphones and guitar and keyboard transmitters.
• Reservation of sufficient spectrum for future uses and technological applications either not used or not known at present.

As is the case today, and consistent with long-standing bipartisan recognition of the benefits that accrue from access to spectrum for commercial uses, access to digital spectrum must continue to be regulated in a manner consistent with the national interest by way of must carry rules and local content obligations. Further, there should be no distinction made between television and television-like services – regardless of delivery platform, local content and classification regulation and must carry rules should apply equally.

The Music Council does not agree that the commercial free-to-air broadcasters are currently in terminal decline. Rather, they currently remain profitable enterprises. However, the Music Council does recognize the possibility that, in coming years in a dramatically changed environment, it is possible that the financial models now underpinning free-to-air commercial broadcasting might not be able to sustain current levels of Australian content. With that possibility in mind, the Music Council believes that the financial dividend that will accrue to government with the auctioning of spectrum licences could be invested in a manner that might be utilised at some point in the future to offset some of the costs associated with the production of local content if required.

Read the submission