Notification of draft variations to the Radiocommunications (Maritime Ship Station - 27 MHz and VHF) Class Licence 2015

Commonwealth of Australia

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY

Radiocommunications Act 1992

Notice under section 136 of the Radiocommunications Act 1992

NOTIFICATION OF DRAFT VARIATIONS TO THE RADIOCOMMUNICATIONS (MARITIME SHIP STATION – 27 MHZ AND VHF) CLASS LICENCE 2015

Notice is given under section 136 of the Radiocommunications Act 1992 (the Act) of draft variations to the Radiocommunications (Maritime Ship Station – 27 MHz and VHF) Class Licence 2015 (the draft Variation) proposed to be made by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) under section 132 of the Act. The draft Variation proposes to amend existing arrangements and to add new arrangements to support advances in safety of life at sea, while also providing benefits to the Australian maritime community by varying the Radiocommunications (Maritime Ship Station – 27 MHz and VHF) Class Licence 2015 (the Maritime Ship Class Licence).

Proposed changes

The Maritime Ship Class Licence contains the licence conditions, operating requirements and technical parameters associated with the operation of maritime ship stations on-board an Australian ship using 27 MHz maritime frequencies and VHF maritime frequencies.

The draft Variation proposes to amend the the Maritime Ship Class Licence as set out in the Schedule:

Comments

Under section 136 of the Act, the ACMA is seeking representations about the draft Variation.

Copies of the Maritime Ship Class Licence, the draft Variation, and the consultation paper explaining the above variations in more detail are available on the ACMA’s website and hardcopies may be obtained from the ACMA’s Canberra Office by contacting:

Stewart White

Spectrum Licensing Policy Section

Australian Communications and Media Authority

PO BOX 78

BELCONNEN  ACT  2616

Telephone: (02) 6219 5106

Email: Stewart.White@acma.gov.au

Interested persons are invited to make representations about the proposed variation no later than 01 February 2018. Representations should be in writing and should be addressed to:

The Manager

Spectrum Licensing Policy Section

Australian Communications and Media Authority

PO BOX 13112

Law Courts

Melbourne Victoria 8010

or by email to:

spectrumlicensingpolicy@acma.gov.au

Schedule – the draft Variation

1 Section 2 (note 1)

Repeal the note, substitute:

Note 1 All legislative instruments must be registered on the Federal Register of Legislation required to be maintained under the Legislation Act 2003, see www.legislation.gov.au.

2 Subsection 4(1), after the definition of Act

Insert:

AMSA means the Australian Maritime Safety Authority established by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority Act 1990.

3 Subsection 4(1) (definition of VHF maritime frequencies)

Repeal the definition, substitute:

VHF maritime frequencies means frequencies specified in the Australian Radiofrequency Spectrum Plan 2017 that may be used for the purposes of maritime mobile services that exceed 30 megahertz but do not exceed 300 megahertz.

4 Subsection 4(2) (notes at the end)

Repeal the notes, substitute:

Note 1 For references to Commonwealth Acts, see section 10 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901; and see also subsection 13(1) of the Legislation Act 2003 for the application of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 to legislative instruments.

Note 2 All Commonwealth Acts and legislative instruments are available on the Federal Register of Legislation website at https://www.legislation.gov.au.

5 Paragraph 8(2)(g)

Repeal the paragraph, substitute:

(g)  qualifications recognised by:

(i) AMSA as being equivalent to the qualification mentioned in paragraph (a); or

(ii) the ACMA as being equivalent to any of the qualifications mentioned in paragraphs (b) to (f).

6 Subsection 8(3), after note 2

Insert:

Note 3  Equivalent qualifications and licences recognised by the ACMA and AMSA are listed in the Tables of Equivalent Qualifications and Licences, as existing from time to time, available on the ACMA website at http://www.acma.gov.au.

7 Subsection 9(2)

After “in the version current from time to time”, omit “of the”, substitute “of its”.

8 Section 19

       Repeal the section, substitute:

19  Maritime ship stations — AIS

A person must operate a maritime ship station for Automatic Identification System (AIS) purposes only:

(a) on a frequency mentioned in column 2 of an item in Part 2.10 of Schedule 2; and

(b) using a transmitter output power not exceeding the power mentioned in column 3 of the item; and

(c) for a purpose mentioned in column 4 of the item.

9 After section 19

                  Insert:

20  Maritime ship stations — VDES communications

A person must operate a maritime ship station for VHF Data Exchange System (VDES) communications only:

(a) on a frequency mentioned in column 2 of an item in Part 2.11 of Schedule 2; and

(b) using a transmitter output power not exceeding the power mentioned in column 3 of the item.

21 Maritime ship stations — ASM

A person must operate a maritime ship station for Application Specific Messages (ASM) purposes only:

(a) on a frequency mentioned in column 2 of an item in Part 2.12 of Schedule 2; and

(b) using a transmitter output power not exceeding the power mentioned in column 3 of the item.

10 Part 1.2 of Schedule 1 (table item 1)

Omit “Radiocommunications (VHF Radiotelephone Equipment – Maritime Mobile  Service) Standard 2014”, substitute “Radiocommunications (VHF Radiotelephone Equipment – Maritime Mobile Service) Standard 2018”.                   

11 Part 2.1 of Schedule 2 (note)

Repeal the note, substitute:

Note The MF and HF frequencies in this Schedule are those prescribed in Annex 2 to Appendix 17 (REV. WRC-15) of the ITU Radio Regulations which came into force on 1 January 2017.

12 Part 2.3 of Schedule 2 (table)

Repeal the table, substitute:

Part 2.3 Public correspondence

13 Part 2.4 of Schedule 2 (table)

Repeal the table, substitute:

Part 2.4 Commercial operations

14 Part 2.6 of Schedule 2 (table)

Repeal the table, substitute:

Part 2.6 Port operations

15 Part 2.7 of Schedule 2 (table item 3, column 5)

Omit “Calling and working”, substitute “Working”.

16 Part 2.9 of Schedule 2 (table) 

Repeal the table, substitute:

Part 2.9 On-board communications

17      Part 2.10 of Schedule 2 (table)

Repeal the table, substitute:

Part 2.10 Automatic Identification System (AIS)

18 After Part 2.10 of Schedule 2

Insert:

Part 2.11 VHF Data Exchange System (VDES)

The channels 24, 84, 25 and 85 may be merged in order to form a unique duplex channel with a bandwidth of 100 kHz in order to operate the VDES terrestrial component described in the most recent version of Recommendation ITU-R M.2092 (WRC-15).

Part 2.12 Application Specific Messages (ASM)