The deadline has passed for industry submissions, in response to an Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) discussion paper on the merits of reserving spectrum which might be suitable for digital radio.
The discussion paper was released well before Federal Cabvarchar(15)’s recent deferral of key decisions on the future of digital radio in Australia, including spectrum and tenure of existing broadcasters.
At the time, Acting ABA chief, Lyn Maddock, thought it was “timely to seek views” on digital radio spectrum because policy and regulatory framework was “under active consideration by the Government” since the last election.
For digital radio to be introduced, a pre-requisite is the availability of suitable spectrum. Digital radio technologies require different frequency bands, which are already extensively used and under continuing demand from other services, especially analog radio and digital television.
The ABA is worried that “in contrast to the situation with the digital conversion of free to air television, shortage of suitable spectrum is likely to be a significant constraint on the development of digital radio in Australia”.
The issue before the ABA is whether to withhold remaining spectrum which might, in future, be needed for digital radio. If it did reserve spectrum, that could cause problems for other analog radio services in some areas and also affect future digital television services.
In December, a Digital Radio policy paper examining the issues was released for comment. Reports from the Digital Radio Study Group work – undertaken in 2003 by the ABA, Communications Department and the Australian Communications Authority (ACA) – accompanied the issues paper.
Digital radio candidate bands discussed in the ABA’s discussion paper include:
· VHF Band III (174-230 MHz)
· the medium frequency (MF) band (526.5-1606.5 kHz)
· VHF Band I (45-52 MHz and 56-70 MHz).
If digital radio services are to be introduced in the short term, it appears likely that due to availability of affordable receivers, the Eureka 147 standard will be adopted.
The ABA will merge with the ACA on Friday, forming the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). Given the timing, it will be for ACMA to consider the submissions prior to making any decisions on this issue.
With Cabvarchar(15) putting back digital radio decisions, any announcement will be delayed by weeks and, possibly, months.
It is understood there are no major sticking points – Cabvarchar(15) simply ran out of time for a detailed discussion of a ministerial submission. Apparently, there will be talks between some senior ministers to finalise a position and the issue will then go back to Cabinet.
Before the latest delay, commercial radio networks had been preparing for significant concessions on digital radio, including free use of additional spectrum for digital stations, and a five year period on new players entering the new market.
It is believed the ministerial submission also allows the ABC and SBS to launch new digital services.
Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) has been lobbying hard for several years for a ten year ban on new players, but it seems the industry will have to be content with five years.
CRA has also been trying to prevent non-traditional broadcasters, such as Broadcast Australia and WorldAudio, becoming potential new competitors through new technology.
Eventually, Cabvarchar(15)’s long awaited decisions should result in new capital expenditure by the existing major radio groups.
CRA has also been arguing for digital spectrum to be ‘loaned’ to current ‘official’ licensees at no extra cost, based on what happened with free to air TV networks for digital conversion.