ACMA lays out draft plan for future of Australian airwaves
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) today laid out its draft plan for the management of Australia’s spectrum – the wireless communications frequencies that carry mobile data, satellite transmissions and broadcast signals.
The draft Five-year spectrum outlook 2024–29 (FYSO) canvasses a range of potential use cases, including increasing the spectrum available for 5G wireless broadband as well as new satellite technologies, both supporting greater network coverage and connectivity.
ACMA authority member and spectrum lead Adam Suckling said the ACMA was now calling on stakeholders to give their thoughts on the draft plan to help shape the future of Australia’s digital communications over the next five years.
“Spectrum management isn’t discussed a lot in Australia but it plays an enormous role in our everyday lives,” Mr Suckling said.
“Without knowing it, each and every day Australians use spectrum for everything from watching TV to using their mobiles and accessing the internet. Spectrum also supports the most critical infrastructure that drives business and our national economy, so it’s incredibly important we consult as widely as possible on its future use.”
The draft FYSO also looks at potential future use of the upper 6 GHz frequency band.
“Internationally, the upper 6 GHz band is growing in importance for both 5G as well as the next generation of Wi-Fi technology, with strong and divergent views on the best use of the band. Accordingly, we are moving to the preliminary planning stage in order to come to a decision on the future use of this band.
“We are also now implementing our approach to the 1.9GHz band so that various uses of the band can coexist. For example, that will mean rail services and major entertainment events can have access to this band at the same time. Performers at large concerts can use wireless microphones without the risk of interfering with the next generation of railway communications used by the trains bringing fans to the venue.
“The ACMA will also complete its program of allocations of important 3.4-4.0 GHz spectrum, which have been designed to accommodate a range of users and use cases. Applications for area-wide licences in the 3.8 GHz band of this spectrum will open shortly.
“Spectrum licences in this band allow organisations to build their own private communications networks to support their business needs,” Mr Suckling said.
“We have already seen an uptake of private networks by the construction and mining sectors and are starting to see other sectors showing an interest as well, such as agriculture, transport and utilities businesses.
“We anticipate this trend will continue, with increasing demand for private networks using 5G technology.”
The ACMA has published the draft FYSO on its website with consultation submissions closing COB 22 April 2024.
Includes:
600 MHz
The 600 MHz band is currently used by digital television services in Australia and is available for some services under the LIPD class licence. Current television channel arrangements include spectrum inside and outside the 600 MHz band.
Planning decisions for the 600 MHz band will be guided by relevant Government policy decisions. Making spectrum available in this band would require a further restack of television channels to yield a contiguous block of spectrum. We are undertaking technical research funded from the government’s Television Research and Policy Development Program to assist the government deliberations about future changes to television arrangements.
Planning radio and television services
Broadcasting services may be delivered using spectrum, including AM and FM frequencies (for radio), VHF, UHF and satellite frequencies.
Evolving digital transmission technology and changes in viewer and listener behaviour are altering the modes of delivery and, consequently, changing the broadcasting demand for spectrum. For example, we are aware that some television broadcasters have been changing the video compression standard of some of their services from MPEG2 to MPEG4. In some areas, all the television services are now delivered using the MPEG4 compression standard.
We continue with a significant program of radio planning and allocation activities, informed and prioritised by our radio broadcast planning priorities, outlined in our Future delivery of radio report. These include AM to FM conversions and improving the coverage of existing services.
We are also supporting trials of new broadcasting technology – in 2023, we licensed multiple trials of small-scale DAB+ technology and past trials have included DAB+, DRM for AM (DRM30) and DRM for FM (DRM+) technologies for radio. We have expanded the AM–FM conversion program for commercial radio broadcasting services in regional areas to include competitive markets. FM conversion of AM services in regional areas has the potential to improve listener experience and support industry by delivering improved audio quality, reduced signal interference and lower costs for broadcasters. We are continuing to work with commercial AM licensees in solus and competitive regional radio markets to progress their requests for AM–FM conversions.