EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the Australian Communications and Media Authority
Radiocommunications (Trading Rules for Spectrum Licences) Amendment Determination 2009 (No. 1)
Radiocommunications Act 1992
Purpose
The purpose of the Radiocommunications (Trading Rules for Spectrum Licences) Amendment Determination 2009 (No. 1) (the Amendment Determination) is to reduce the standard trading unit (STU) and minimum contiguous bandwidth for the 2302 – 2400 MHz frequency range (the 2.3 GHz band) from 7 MHz to 3.5 MHz.
Legislative Provisions
The Australian Communications Authority (ACA) made the Radiocommunications (Trading Rules for Spectrum Licences) Determination (the Trading Rules Determination) in 1998 under paragraph 88 (1) (a) of the Radiocommunications Act 1992 (the Act).
In accordance with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2005, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is taken to have made the Trading Rules Determination under the Act as previously made by the ACA.
Subsection 33 (3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 provides that where an Act confers a power to make an instrument, that power shall, unless contrary intention appears, be construed as including a power exercisable in a like manner and subject to like conditions, to amend that instrument.
Background
Section 46 of the Act provides that radiocommunications devices can not be operated unless authorised by a class, apparatus or spectrum licence. ACMA has developed a licensing framework that includes these three broad licence types. The spectrum licence authorises access to a defined spectrum space. A spectrum licence offers licensees greater flexibility than an apparatus licence, for example, in terms of device deployment, the types of technology or applications that can be deployed and how the licensee manages their interference risk.
A spectrum licence is generally allocated via a price based allocation (PBA) process, such as an auction, to the successful applicant. A spectrum licence is issued for a period of no more than 15 years, which offers licensees greater certainty. In the case of the 2.3 GHz band, the residual lots that are allocated will have the same expiry date as existing licences, that is, 24 July 2015.
A spectrum licence can be assigned (i.e. traded) in whole, or in part by geographic area; by bandwidth; or by both as provided for by Division 5 of Part 3.2 of the Act. A single STU is the smallest unit of spectrum space for which the ACMA will register a trade.
The frequency bandwidths of STUs vary in size depending on the spectrum band in which licences are issued. Although the STU is the minimum bandwidth segment and geographic area of the spectrum map grid that may be traded by a spectrum licensee, trade can be further restricted by the need to comply with the minimum contiguous bandwidth (MCB) for a licence in the band. A traded spectrum licence must not have a bandwidth less than that set out in the Trading Rules Determination.
Operation
The Amendment Determination reduces the minimum contiguous bandwidth for the 2.3 GHz band from 7 MHz to 3.5 MHz.
The Amendment Determination also replaces references to the ACA with references to ACMA.
Consultation
To ensure that ACMA met the requirements of the LIA, ACMA undertook consultation in the Commonwealth Gazette and on ACMA’s website beginning in May 2008. The Amendment Determination was made available from these sources for public comment from 12 May – 30 June 2008.
No submissions were received in relation to the Amendment Determination.
Regulatory Impact Statement
ACMA obtained advice from its SES contact officer for the Government’s regulation impact analysis arrangements that the Amendment Determination has no or low impact. For those reasons under the self-assessment regime administered by the Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR), ACMA has determined that there is no need to produce a Business Cost Calculator report or to prepare a Regulation Impact Statement. The ACMA RIS exemption reference number is ACMA 078.
Documents incorporated into the Amendment Determination by reference
There are no documents incorporated into this Amendment Determination by reference.
Detailed Description of the Instrument
Details of the Amendment Determination are in the Attachment.
ATTACHMENT
NOTES ON SECTIONS
Section 1 – Name of Determination
This section provides for the citation of the Determination.
Section 2 – Commencement
This section provides that the Amendment Determination commences on the day after it is registered.
Section 3 – Amendment to the Radiocommunications (Trading Rules for Spectrum Licences) Determination 1998
This section provides that Schedule 1 amends the Radiocommunications (Trading Rules for Spectrum Licences) Determination 1998.
Schedule 1 Amendments
Item [1] Section 4, definition of ACA
Item [1] replaces references to the ACA with references to ACMA and provides a definition.
Item [2]. Schedule
Item [2] replaces the table in the Schedule which refers to the minimum contiguous bandwidths for spectrum licence trading. Only item 5 of the table in the Schedule has been amended from the original table to reflect the reduced minimum contiguous bandwidth for the 2302-2400 MHz band from 7 MHz to 3.5 MHz respectively.
Item [3] Further amendments
Item [3] replaces references to the ACA with references to ACMA.