The Department of Broadband and Communications has just closed off the first stage of its industry consultation process on media and telecommunications convergence. This early stage of consultation is just the first bite of the cherry for the Convergence Review, and more detailed submissions are expected over the next 9 months. At this early stage, some key issues emerging from radio related submissions are:  whether or not to issue new analog licences as radio goes digital, local content, media ownership concentration, participation in media, competition and diversity.

The review initially allowed a period of consultation on the terms of reference, then went to a period of time for people to comment on a Framing Paper. The period for comment on the Framing Paper has just closed.

In a process that some industry observers have told radioinfo seems “surprisingly complex,” there are several more steps:

10 June – Framing Paper submissions close

Late June – ‘Emerging Issues paper’ reflecting submissions to the Framing Paper

July – Committee hearings

August – Release of detailed discussion papers

Early October – Deadline for submission on discussion papers

March 2012 – Final report

In this converged world, submissions can be made online (click here and scroll to bottom), and interested parties can also interact with the process via Twitter and Facebook.

The Framing Paper  takes as its starting point the proposition “that any person or entity in Australia should be free to communicate with any other person or entity. A free and diverse media and communications industry is a fundamental and important part of Australian society.”

The paper says:

“Occasionally it can be necessary to place some limits on this freedom. From speed limits for drivers to anti-collusion laws for companies, there are times when the government needs to intervene to obtain some greater public good. In this regard the freedom to communicate is no different. Incentives may be required, for example, to ensure that Australian content remains accessible despite the availability of much cheaper content from overseas. There may be a need for rules that ensure consumers know exactly what they are buying from service providers, or we may need to ensure that there is a diversity of voices, views and information. The questions arise, therefore, as to how the policy framework is best determined and where it should be applied.”

There are a range of current business models for broadcasters, which will all be considered in the review:

• broadcasting and open narrowcasting licensees who rely predominantly on advertising to deliver their services which are broadcast free-to-air
• subscription broadcasting and narrowcasting licensees who rely predominantly on subscriptions
• community broadcasters who rely on voluntary community support and sponsorship
• the ABC which relies on direct government funding
• the SBS which relies on government funding and some advertising.

The Review aims to advise the government on how to approach converged media and telecoms policy into the future. Key topics the review will tackle include: Diversity and competition, Local and Australian content, Community standards, Consumer and citizen rights and Spectrum allocation.

COMMERCIAL RADIO AUSTRALIA

CRA has put forward an initial framing paper submission to the Review and the industry looks forward to making a further submission once the full discussion paper has been released, according to Joan Warner. The commercial radio industry’s initial submission says the principles developed for a converged environment should:

• be technologically neutral
• be applied in an equal and balanced way across different sectors and platforms
• take into account the role and importance of free-to-air radio broadcast services to the community … That is, the needs of the traditional “free” media sectors should not be discounted or subsumed in favour of subscription based services offered by current or emerging operators in the media and communications sector;
• be measured, targeted and proportionate in their application; and
• respect and recognise differences in business models between platforms and between players in the converged environment.

CRA wants more streamlined legislation across different sectors, regulatory certainty, and recognition that convergence will develop at different rates and in different ways across different platforms and geographic areas. Key issues identified by commercial radio are:

• the costs of regulation need to be viewed against the benefits that such regulation purports to achieve. Regulation that results in costs that outweigh the benefits is unlikely to be measured, targeted and proportionate in its application.
• it will be necessary for the converged environment to include a series of protections that constrain the imposition of regulation by requiring the regulator to assess the impact of such regulation through a regulatory impact statement; and
• the legislative and regulatory framework needs to ensure that players have an appropriate level of regulatory certainty in a converged environment. Regulatory certainty ensures that the industry knows the “rules of the game” in advance, and can enter increasingly competitive segments, such as digital radio, without needlessly adding to its exposure. Currently, there are a number of unresolved regulatory and legislative issues which are impacting the free-to-air commercial radio industry.

COMMUNITY BROADCASTING ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA

The Community Broadcasting Association also made a submission to the Review, flagging issues of interest to that sector:

Currently the principles on which Australian media regulation is based are not clearly articulated. In a converged media environment, the CBAA submits that clearly expressing the role of the different media sectors and the fundamental basis for their regulation is the only credible way to facilitate decisions about what is to be regulated… In the absence of this understanding there remains the risk that legislation is technology focused.

The CBAA would like the review to address: High media ownership concentration, participation in media especially by community media volunteers and the importance of local content.

AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

The ABC’s submission agrees that, in a converged media world, “it is appropriate that Government reappraise its communications policy and legislative structure and consider what policy levers are appropriate in the new circumstances.”

Any new communications policy framework, says the ABC submission, should abide by four fundamental principles: to foster competition, encourage diversity of opinion, protect Australian voices and safeguard consumer and citizen rights.

Copyright is also an important issue for the ABC, which says:

The ABC believes that an examination of copyright issues is vital in the new media environment. Like the BSA, the Copyright Act does not adequately take into account new technology and delivery mechanisms. This can lead to uncertainties in the exploitation of rights using converged technologies.

There is a lot of water still to pass under the bridge before the Convergence Review reports its recommendations next year. radioinfo will cover the process each step of the way.