Spectrum Reallocation in the 700MHz Digital Dividend Band

Submission to the Australian Communications and Media Authority

Prepared by Lynn Gailey,
December 13, 2010

The Music Council is concerned that the forthcoming spectrum reallocation deliver the most efficient digital dividend possible, a dividend that serves the needs of all Australians both by ensuring continued access to high quality free-to-air digital services and by maximizing the extent to which new services can be made available to Australians, including new services offered by new entrants.

The Music Council considers that central to efficient reallocation of spectrum in the best interests of the public is ensuring capacity for:

• 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.
• The needs of digital radio in regional Australia.
• The needs of community broadcasting once the analogue signal is switched off.
• 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.
• Spectrum for class-licensed uses for wireless audio devices including radio microphones and guitar and keyboard transmitters.
• Reservation of some spectrum for future uses, for instance 3DTV, and technological applications currently either not in use or not known at present.
• Adequate guard bands to prevent signal interference.

Licence conditions reflecting current bipartisan support for Australian content regulation need to be imposed on new licensees and new services. As six decades of television broadcasting and nine decades of radio broadcasting demonstrate, in the absence of content regulation, levels of Australian content considered by the Government to be in the public interest will not be delivered. Regrettably, ACMA has elected to not impose any Australian content regulation on digital only radio services for three years. It is to be hoped that the current review of television multi-channels will result in content regulation to the level possible under the constraints conferred on Australia’s capacity to regulate by the Australia United States Free Trade Agreement.

Read the submission