Have your say on communications reform

The annual general meeting of ARCIA was recently held and I was delighted to be nominated and accept the position of President again; so I am sorry, you will have to put up with me for another 12 months. Seriously, I would sincerely like to thank all those members who give so much time working with and promoting the association. In particular, I would like to highlight the efforts of Martin McLeod from Gencom in Newcastle who has stepped down as vice president of the association. Martin has been a tower of strength and a voice of reason for many years and the association is indebted to him. We also have some new members stepping up to the plate and I am really looking forward to seeing their contributions.

The end of the year is really taking shape with planning for Comms Connect Melbourne and the ARCIA annual Gala Dinner well underway. ARCIA will again be calling for award nominations, so make sure you nominate those who you think are deserving of recognition and watch the dates to be part of these great events.

Members who have been to state events this year will know that ARCIA has started to recognise industry contributions at a state level; these state winners will be forwarded to the annual gala dinner for one of the national awards. These new awards have been warmly received and certainly appreciated by the recipients. The latest winner at the ARCIA Queensland event was Nick Stefanou from Mobile Communications Qld. Nick’s passion for the industry is renowned and the award recognised his commitment to innovation and the spirit of giving it a go! Nick’s efforts over many years are indicative of what our industry does every day, solving problems and delivering solutions.

The Department of Communications has announced the intention to review the Radio Communications Act: you can find more details at www.communications.gov.au/departmental-news/new-directions-spectrum-announced. This review has the potential to profoundly change the way our industry manages spectrum and delivers wireless solutions. I would encourage all members to engage with the ARCIA committee on these matters. Clearly, ARCIA will make every effort to advocate on behalf of our industry to policymakers but we need to be informed to ensure we have consistent and relevant information.

In my last article I lamented on the lack of coordination on federal government mobile black spot funding — in my view a missed opportunity to utilise important community co-funded infrastructure for public safety communications. Anyone involved building networks knows that site acquisition and planning is one of the most significant costs for network deployment. I am very happy to report that the clever people in Western Australia in the Industry & Innovation section of the Department of Commerce have proved me wrong. In WA, the state government has also co-funded black spot infrastructure for the benefit of local communities and tourism, and at the same time built into the program site access for emergency service organisations.

Finally, the ARCIA committee is keenly aware that we must improve membership benefits, and as part of that thinking we are planning a major rework of our website. We believe that the website should be the focal point for information and guidelines to assist the entire industry. If you have suggestions for content for our website, please let the committee know.

Hamish Duff

President

Australian Radio Communications Industry Association