The 2013 RadComms conference is on next week, and sessions details are now available from the ACMA.

RadComms is the ACMA’s two day Radio Communications conference, which will be held this year at Australian Maritime Museum in Sydney, next week October 2nd and 3rd.

The two days are filled with expert speakers and industry leaders. This years forum topic is 4G and Beyond.

Sessions over this year’s conference include:

‘Spectrum crunch?’ – The need for greater access to spectrum for wireless broadband services is a commonly held view. However, not all of the 700 MHz band spectrum offered in the ACMA’s recent digital dividend auction was taken up by the marketplace. Does that mean we need to change our views about projected demand over the next few years? And how can we balance any increase in mobile broadband spectrum requirements with the continuing needs of incumbent users? 

‘Spectrum and society: What is the spectrum value proposition?’ – Spectrum has ‘value’ to the government, the economy and society as a whole. But how can (and should) ‘value’ be assessed when money or price aren’t the key indicators of its worth? 

‘Unchaining spectrum management?’ – It’s clear that the technological environment and the uses for spectrum are changing rapidly. But do we have the right regulatory toolkit and policy settings to respond to this change in a way that delivers the greatest public benefit?

‘What is the future of traditional broadcasting in the face of new technology and business models?’ – Australia has been switching to digital television and restacking spectrum in the process, but traditional broadcasting also faces threats and opportunities from new platforms and services. What is the future for free-to-air TV and commercial radio broadcasting in this environment? 

‘Innovation in spectrum use: where is it going?’ – Traditional spectrum allocation gives licensees well-defined protection from interference, but it can also create ‘dead space’ when spectrum is denied to other users. Regulators around the world are looking at how to make better use of the ‘bits in between’. Co-uses of spectrum, such as whitespace and spectrum-sharing, are on everyone’s mind—so what are the latest developments? 

‘Where to from here?’ – What is the ACMA doing at a national and international level to set the agenda for the coming years?

More information on this years RadComms, including registration is available on the ACMA website here.