Television networks are worried they will be unable to provide viewers with high definition quality and secondary channels such as 7mate, 9Gem and 10Bold if a proposal to buy back some of the spectrum they use is implemented, despite assurances from the federal government that the move would not significantly affect viewers.
Reforms proposed by the government in November suggest removing spectrum licence fees in exchange for reducing the amount of radiofrequency spectrum used by TV broadcasters by compressing it. The spectrum made available – known as the 600mHZ band – would be sold at a higher price to companies like telcos that can use it to rollout fast mobile networks.
