EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Prepared by the Australian Communications and Media Authority
Telecommunications Technical Standard (Requirements for Connection to an Air Interface of a Telecommunications Network — Part 1: General — AS/CA S042.1:2010) Amendment 2013 (No.1)
Telecommunications Act 1997
The Telecommunications Technical Standard (Requirements for Connection to an Air Interface of a Telecommunications Network — Part 1: General — AS/CA S042.1:2010) Amendment 2013 (No.1) (the Amendment Standard) has been made by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) under subsection 376(1) of the Telecommunications Act 1997 (the Act).
The Amendment Standard amends the Telecommunications Technical Standard (Requirements for Connection to an Air Interface of a Telecommunications Network – Part 1: General – AS/CA S042.1:2010) 2011 (the ACMA Standard), which imposes legal requirements on:
- customer equipment that is designed, or intended, for use in connection with a public mobile telecommunications service, or a satellite service, or both; and
- an item of customer equipment that enables the carriage service provider to identify the item when used for two-way communications on a public mobile telecommunications service or satellite service supplied by the carriage service provider
(relevant customer equipment).[1]
The Amendment Standard is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
Background
Section 376 of the Act provides that the ACMA may, by written instrument, make a technical standard relating to specified customer equipment or specified customer cabling.
Subsection 376(2) of the Act provides that such standards are to consist only of such requirements as are necessary or convenient for achieving a particular objective specified in that subsection, including:
- protecting the integrity of a telecommunications network or a facility (paragraph (2)(a));
- protecting the health or safety of persons who operate or work on a telecommunications network or a facility, or who use services supplied by means of a telecommunications network or a facility, or who are otherwise reasonably likely to be affected by the operation of a telecommunications network or facility (paragraph (2)(b));
- ensuring that customer equipment can be used to give access to an emergency call service (paragraph (2)(c)); and
- ensuring, for the purpose of the supply of a standard telephone service, the interoperability of customer equipment with a telecommunications network to which the equipment is, or is proposed to be, connected (paragraph (2)(d)).
Section 377 of the Act provides that, in making a technical standard under section 376, the ACMA may apply, adopt or incorporate (with or without modification) any matter contained in a standard proposed or approved by Standards Australia or any other body or association either as in force or existing at a particular time or as in force or existing from time to time.
Subsection 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (AIA) relevantly provides that where an Act confers a power to make a legislative instrument, the power shall be construed as including a power exercisable in the like manner and subject to the like conditions (if any) to amend or vary any such instrument. The ACMA has the power to make the Amendment Standard under subsection 33(3) of the AIA, as the Amendment Standard amends the ACMA Standard, a legislative instrument made by the ACMA under a power conferred by subsection 376(1) of the Act.
Before the Amendment Standard was made, the ACMA Standard provided that relevant customer equipment had to comply with “the mandatory requirements set out in the Australian Standard — Requirements for connection to an air interface of a Telecommunications Network – Part 1: General – AS/CA S042.1:2010” (the AS/CA Standard), as published by Communications Alliance Ltd in October 2010.
The AS/CA Standard was subsequently amended by the “Amendment No. 1/2013 to AS/CA S042.1:2010 Requirements for connection to an air interface of a Telecommunications Network – Part 1: General” on 4 July 2013 (the AS/CA amendment) to exclude certain types of devices from the emergency call access requirements in the AS/CA Standard. Prior to this Amendment Standard being made, the ACMA Standard had incorporated the version of the AS/CA Standard as published in October 2010, not the subsequent version of the AS/CA Standard as amended by the AS/CA amendment. For this reason, the Amendment Standard has now been made to amend the ACMA Standard to incorporate the version of the AS/CA Standard as amended by the AS/CA amendment.
Purpose and operation
The purpose of the Amendment Standard is to ensure that the mandatory requirements which are applied to relevant customer equipment are those set out in a version of the AS/CA Standard that is in force on 5 July 2013, the day after the publication and effective date of the AS/CA amendment. In short, the version of the AS/CA Standard as amended by the AS/CA amendment has now been adopted in the ACMA Standard.
In accordance with subsection 376(2) of the Act, the Amendment Standard consists only of requirements relating to the AS/CA Standard, which are necessary or convenient to meet the objectives mentioned in paragraphs 376(2)(a) to (d) of the Act.
Document Incorporated By Reference
The Amendment Standard incorporates by reference the Australian Standard – Requirements for connection to an air interface of a Telecommunications Network – Part 1: General – AS/CA S042.1:2010 as published by Communications Alliance Ltd (CA) and as in force on 5 July 2013.
Copies of the AS/CA Standard and the AS/CA amendment are available at http://www.commsalliance.com.au/Documents/all/Standards/s042.1 in electronic format.
Regulation Impact
The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) has advised that a Regulation Impact Statement is not required for the Amendment Standard (OBPR reference number 2013/15287).
Consultation
Subsections 378(1) and 378(5) of the Act provide that before the ACMA makes a technical standard under section 376 the ACMA must, so far as is practicable, try to ensure that interested parties have had an adequate opportunity to comment on the proposed standard (paragraph 378(1)(a)), for a period of at least 60 days (subsection 378(5)), and that due consideration has been given to any comments made (paragraph 378(1)(b)).
Subsection 378(2) of the Act relevantly provides that the ACMA may make an arrangement with a body or association approved in writing by Standards Australia International Limited under which the body or association prepares a draft of a standard, publishes the draft, consults publicly on the draft and reports to the ACMA on the results of that public consultation process. Such a report may satisfy the requirements on the ACMA under paragraph 378(1)(a) of the Act mentioned above. CA is a body approved in writing by Standards Australia International Limited and the ACMA had an arrangement with CA for the purposes of subsection 378(2) of the Act in relation to the proposed amendment to the ACMA standard.
The ACMA is satisfied that, prior to submitting the revised industry standard for regulatory adoption, appropriate public consultation was undertaken by CA.
CA commenced a public consultation process in relation to the AS/CA amendment on
14 December 2012 for a period of 76 days (the CA consultation). Copies of a draft of the AS/CA amendment were issued to CA members and made available on the CA website during the consultation period. The draft was also available in hard copy.
Submissions in relation to the CA consultation were received by CA from the Personal Emergency Response Services Association, Stanimore, Telstra and BMW, and all supported the proposed draft amendment. The ACMA’s Emergency Call Services Advisory Committee (ECSAC) was also consulted. ECSAC advised CA that its members had no objections to the draft amendment. Comments in submissions made in relation to the content of the draft AS/CA amendment were considered and actioned by a working committee established by CA.
The provisions of the Amendment Standard are described in Attachment 1.
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
A statement of compatibility with human rights for the purposes of Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 is set out in Attachment 2.
Attachment 1
Notes on Sections
Section 1 – Name of Technical Standard
Section 1 provides for the citation of the Amendment Standard as the Telecommunications Technical Standard (Requirements for Connection to an Air Interface of a Telecommunications Network — Part 1: General — AS/CA S042.1:2010) Amendment 2013 (No.1).
Section 2 – Commencement
Section 2 provides that the Amendment Standard commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.
Section 3 – Amendment of Telecommunications Technical Standard (Requirements for Connection to an Air Interface of a Telecommunications Network — Part 1: General — AS/CA S042.1:2010) 2011
Section 3 provides that the ACMA Standard is amended in accordance with Schedule 1.
Schedule 1 – Amendment
Item [1] – Section 6
Item [1] replaces section 6 with new section 6.
Section 6 provides that relevant customer equipment must comply with the mandatory requirements set out in the AS/CA Standard as in force on 5 July 2013. This is intended to incorporate the mandatory requirements set out in the version of the AS/CA Standard as amended by the AS/CA amendment on 4 July 2013.
Attachment 2
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
Telecommunications Technical Standard (Requirements for Connection to an Air Interface of a Telecommunications Network — Part 1: General — AS/CA S042.1:2010) Amendment 2013 (No.1)
This Legislative Instrument is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.
Overview of the Legislative Instrument
This Legislative Instrument amends the Telecommunications Technical Standard (Requirements for Connection to an Air Interface of a Telecommunications Network – Part 1: General – AS/CA S042.1:2010) 2011 (the ACMA Standard) which consists of requirements relating to certain customer equipment (relevant customer equipment).
Before the Legislative Instrument was made, the ACMA Standard provided that relevant customer equipment had to comply with “the mandatory requirements set out in the Australian Standard — Requirements for connection to an air interface of a Telecommunications Network – Part 1: General – AS/CA S042.1:2010 [the AS/CA Standard], as published by Communications Alliance Ltd in October 2010”.
The AS/CA Standard was subsequently amended by the “Amendment No. 1/2013 to AS/CA S042.1:2010 Requirements for connection to an air interface of a Telecommunications Network – Part 1: General” on 4 July 2013 (the AS/CA amendment) to exclude certain types of devices from the emergency call access requirements in the AS/CA Standard. Prior to this Legislative Instrument being made, the ACMA Standard had incorporated the version of the AS/CA Standard as published in October 2010, not the subsequent version of the AS/CA Standard as amended by the AS/CA amendment.
The purpose of the Legislative Instrument is to ensure that the mandatory requirements which are applied to relevant customer equipment are those set out in a version of the AS/CA Standard that is in force on 5 July 2013, the day after the publication and effective date of the AS/CA amendment.
Human rights implications
This Legislative Instrument does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms.
Conclusion
This Legislative Instrument is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues.
Australian Communications and Media Authority
[1] The ACMA, by the Telecommunications Labelling (Customer Equipment and Customer Cabling) Notice 2001, requires a manufacturer or importer of specified customer equipment or specified cabling to apply to the equipment or cabling a label that indicates whether the equipment or cabling meets the requirements of specified standards made under section 376 of the Act, including the ACMA Standard. It is an offence, under section 411 of the Act, to connect such equipment or cabling to a telecommunications network or to a facility, or to maintain such a connection, if the manufacturer or importer of the equipment or cabling did not apply such a label or has applied such a label where the equipment or cabling does not meet those requirements.