Embracing change in communications

Welcome to 2018! I hope your summer season was relaxing and that you had time to enjoy the festive season. Last year already seems like the distant past as we head full on into the New Year and a new set of challenges. The year ended with Comms Connect in Melbourne and, of course, our annual Gala Dinner. We welcomed 550 guests to the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre as we recognised industry professionals and celebrated ARCIA’s tenth anniversary. ARCIA would like to thank the WFevents team for putting on a fantastic year of Comms Connect shows. Melbourne Comms Connect was certainly one of the best ever and attracted industry participants from all over Australia and around the world. ARCIA is indebted to the WFevents team and their dedication to making these events as relevant as possible.

We anticipate that 2018 will see the new Radiocommunications Act come into parliament. ARCIA will continue to work with the Department of Communications and the ACMA to represent industry views. It is very important to our industry that we understand what changes will happen and how these may affect us all. ARCIA also notes what looks like a shift in policy on the value of spectrum and the relationship with economic values and innovation. At the 2017 ACMA Radcomms conference, the Chair of the ACCC (Rod Sims) presented for the first time. The ACCC stated that the value of spectrum would be better considered by the long-term economic value generated by the use of spectrum rather than as a short-term budget windfall.

ARCIA is also working on understanding the impact of new legislation in terms of equipment standards. This may become important if the new Act incorporates civil penalties for the supply and operation of equipment that may be outside typical RF specifications. The ACMA has already adjusted some assignment rules under LM8 in the absence of standards with regard to the distance between adjacent channels. There also seems be to be growing assignment of high- and low-power services on the same carrier.

The industry needs to be able to communicate what the market needs, and — regardless of all the issues that we face — it is important that ARCIA maintain a good relationship with the ACMA. There will be a huge amount of work over the next 12–24 months for ARCIA with these new rules, but what we set up now will have an impact for a decade or more.

ARCIA will start 2018 with a two-day planning meeting in Melbourne to workshop all these areas and ideas. We will welcome our committee, supporters and partners to set the tone for the year. These two days are really important for the organisation as we sort through what needs to be done and how to manage our resources.

Looking ahead, our first networking event of the year will be in Perth on Thursday, 15 March. Make a note of it in your diary now and check the ARCIA website for bookings, and also watch the Comms Connect website for conference bookings.

The theme for our 10th anniversary was that our wireless world is important and we should be proud as an industry of our achievements. More importantly, we should look forward to all the technological changes occurring across many markets and work out how to make the most of new opportunities. ARCIA will keep working to develop material that will help members publicise what the industry represents and why it will remain a vital cog in Australia’s modern economy.

Hamish Duff, President

Australian Radio Communications Industry Association