Focus on the future

In its latest Five-year Spectrum Outlook, the ACMA is tackling the IoT, 5G, dynamic spectrum access and other pressing issues.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has released its latest Five-year Spectrum Outlook (FYSO), covering the years 2016 to 2020, which outlines the areas it intends to work on over the next half decade and gives stakeholders an idea of what to expect.

“We have changed the FYSO this year to deepen engagement with industry and citizens on the ACMA’s spectrum management priorities and work plan,” said ACMA Acting Chairman Richard Bean. “They will find more information on what the ACMA is working on and why, and have more opportunity to comment, including on the format and detail of the work plan.”

The FYSO includes a detailed update of the ACMA’s mobile broadband work program (acma.gov.au/Industry/Spectrum/Spectrum-projects/Mobile-broadband/mobile-broadband-strategy-and-work-plan), which was released in February.

The ACMA has also released a discussion paper on planning issues for the 1.5 and 3.6 GHz bands (acma.gov.au/theACMA/future-use-of-the-15-ghz-and-36-ghz-bands). The regulator has brought forward consideration of the 3.6 GHz band by four months “in response to increasing worldwide interest in the band”, which has been slated for possible use for 5G mobile.

“The changes we have made will make the ACMA’s spectrum work program, and our accountability for it, clearer and increase the value and relevance of the FYSO to everyone with an interest in spectrum management,” said Bean.

“It also highlights our planning for new technological developments: 5G, IoT and dynamic spectrum access (DSA),” he added.

“Getting the spectrum access settings for 5G and IoT right will be fundamental to the success of those technologies in Australia and the contribution they will make to productivity and economic growth.”

ACMA Acting Chairman Richard Bean.

Four focus areas

According to an ACMA statement, the FYSO “is an important component of the ACMA’s consultation and planning framework for spectrum management. It provides information on demand pressures for spectrum and other significant challenges arising from the external environment. Publication of the FYSO supports consultation on specific spectrum issues, discussion papers and feedback through the ACMA’s RadComms conferences and spectrum tune-ups.”

The FYSO has four parts. Part 1 “sets out the ACMA’s high-level approach to decision-making, how evidence is used to identify priorities and develop work programs, and information on external pressures that affect spectrum management. The key issue for the ACMA will be the extent to which implementation of the Spectrum Review recommendations will affect the ACMA’s spectrum management priorities in the future.”

Part 1 also includes a “discussion of the ACMA’s response to the significant issues affecting current and future demand for spectrum with particular emphasis on the mobile broadband. It also discusses the ACMA’s preparatory work to facilitate access to spectrum for 5G, IoT and DSA technologies.”

Part 2 presents in detail the ACMA’s work plan for the 2016–17 financial year, broken down into two parts. In the first part, key priority projects are grouped under three broad themes:

• Maximising the overall public benefit arising from the use of spectrum.
• Reducing the cost to business arising from regulation.
• Implementing reform outcomes.

In the second part, projects and activities are divided into in two sections:

• Band-by-band projects.
• Regulatory and service-planning projects.

The ACMA said it “welcomes the Spectrum Review recommendation that the ACMA should provide the minister with an annual work program, prepared in consultation with stakeholders, including key priorities over a three- to five-year time frame. The present measure does not, however, purport to anticipate or pre-empt implementation of this recommendation, which awaits passage of a new Act and any ministerial directions or requests.”

It goes on to say, “In the interim (prior to implementation of the review) however, the Authority would welcome industry engagement and feedback on the format and the increased level of detail provided about each project.”

The work plan has three broad themes: “maximising the overall public benefit arising from use of spectrum; reducing the cost to business arising from regulation; and implementing current reform priorities”.

The first theme reflects the ACMA’s Principles for Spectrum Management and provides information on projects and explains why they are priority areas of work:

• Implementation of the mobile broadband strategy and work program.
• Priority compliance areas (PCAs).
• Spectrum pricing initiatives.
• Spectrum allocations.
• Regional digital radio rollout.
• AM to FM conversions of commercial radio broadcasting services in selected regional licence areas.

The second theme — reducing the regulatory cost to business — reflects the government’s ‘better regulation’ agenda and focuses on the ACMA’s work to deliver spectrum management tools that will facilitate the capacity for customer self-service.

The third theme — implementing current reform priorities — recognises that the ACMA is responsible for implementing outcomes from major reforms:

• The government’s review of spectrum management.
• Implementation of outcomes from the 400 MHz band review.
• Updates to the Australian Radiofrequency Spectrum Plan 2013 to take into account World Radiocommunications Conference 2015 (WRC–15) outcomes.

Part 3 is the ACMA’s mobile broadband strategy update, being the first mobile broadband annual update to be included in an FYSO. The update outlines each of the projects in the program and includes details such as the project phase, work undertaken and next steps.

Part 4 sets out the ACMA’s spectrum management work programs it expects to commence, or continue to progress. It represents the ACMA’s “preliminary thinking on priorities and provides an early opportunity for stakeholders to provide feedback on the ACMA’s proposed planning framework”.

Call for comments

The ACMA has invited stakeholders to comment on the issues set out in the FYSO, or indeed on any other issues relevant to spectrum demand analysis and strategic direction. The regulator has started the process off by suggesting a range of questions relevant to the different sections of the FYSO.

Starting off with 5G, and quoting directly from the ACMA document, the regulator wants to work out:

1. When, or under what circumstances, would it be appropriate for potential 5G millimetre wave (mmW) bands to progress beyond ‘monitoring’ in the ACMA’s mobile broadband work program?
2. What is the relative priority of investigation of mmW bands versus other potential mobile broadband bands below 6 GHz?
3. What disposition should the ACMA adopt in progressing possible 5G mmW bands? Specifically, is a traditional approach appropriate, where Australia would wait until there were clear signs of a harmonised, widespread ecosystem developing in a band before it was seriously considered domestically? Or should a more proactive approach be adopted that would potentially make available bands very early in a more speculative manner? What are the benefits and risks to each approach?
4. What bands are the most mature in terms of possible early moves on 5G mmW bands?
5. What technical considerations are relevant to possible early moves on 5G mmW bands? For example, what is the minimum contiguous bandwidth considered suitable for individual licences and the industry as a whole? Are some of these considerations flexible in order to support an early move?
6. What spectrum sharing and incumbency considerations will be most relevant to 5G mmW bands (acknowledging that the answer will depend on the specific band under consideration)?
7. Do the mmW bands offer opportunities for new spectrum sharing and/or licensing approaches? If so, what opportunities should be investigated?

Moving on to the Internet of Things (IoT), the ACMA is seeking comment on:

1. Are there any spectrum bands that should be further investigated by the ACMA for potential future use for IoT applications? Why? The ACMA in particular seeks views on possible opportunities in the VHF band for IoT.
2. Are there any sectors of industry that require increased engagement from the ACMA regarding spectrum for IoT applications?

The issue of dynamic spectrum access is gaining more attention, and to that end the ACMA is asking:

1. When, or under what circumstances, would it be appropriate to move beyond monitoring international regulatory and technical developments and consider implementation of arrangements in Australia?
2. Are there specific industry sectors and applications where DSA is likely to be a candidate for early opportunity for adoption?
3. Are there simple changes that can be made to the regulatory framework that would better allow facilitation of trials of DSA approaches and development of implementation arrangements?
4. Are there any spectrum bands, services and/or applications, in particular, that will be, or should/shouldn’t be, targeted in Australia for trials or initial implementation of DSA frameworks?

And overall, the ACMA would like to hear opinions on whether there are “any impediments or restrictions arising from the regulatory framework that would impact on the deployment of 5G, IOT and DSA?”

Spectrum and pricing reviews

In addition, ACMA has said that, “with implementation of the spectrum and pricing reviews being such a strong focus for the ACMA over the coming year”, its research and analysis is “being directed towards supporting analysis for the reform of allocation, licensing and pricing arrangements associated with the reviews”. The regulator says the intent of the research will be to assist it in its “implementation of the reviews and will also be used as a vehicle to engage spectrum users in the implementation process”.

The ACMA will also be focusing hard on work to estimate the “highest value of use for spectrum bands that are identified as being under consideration for mobile broadband use”. That includes determining the highest-value use of the 1.5 and 3.6 GHz bands, preliminary and/or comprehensive analyses of which the ACMA aims to release sometime in the 2016–17 financial year.

Images courtesy ACMA.