Partnerships power the comms sector

To all ARCIA members out there supporting public safety communications through floods and fire, we thank you. A recent report from local government in South Australia highlighted the importance of communications during major storms, including how people are able to communicate during the subsequent loss of the power grid. While it is easy to get excited about complex new solutions and the benefits they offer, when all the systems fail and you are back to simplex as the only option, you can really see the value that LMR provides. Local government has a critical role to play in major events such as the storms in SA, and our industry is ideally placed to provide real-world solutions.

ARCIA kicked off 2017 with a planning day in Melbourne, followed the next day with our industry partners’ day. The planning day brings together the committee and other key stakeholders to plan the focus for the association over the year. We also welcomed two members from the RFUANZ so that we could share ideas about the industry. We spent the day on many familiar topics such as events and membership value, and we think that we have some new ideas for 2017 that we will progress through the year.

This year will mark 10 years of ARCIA, which is a great milestone and we hope to be able to have suitable celebrations during 2017 — watch this space. As we review what the association has achieved over 10 years, we have a lot to be proud of. One of the goals that we have discussed is to make the association more relevant across the country… and we are getting there, especially with the help of our dedicated committee members from all over Australia. However, we recognise that as a group that we have a huge amount of work to do for those members of our industry who do not engage as regularly.

The partner meetings demonstrated that our industry is changing before our eyes, with the arrival of new technologies such as IoT and LTE. So you will see ARCIA broaden its horizons and look to promote RF/wireless professionals as technologies merge. The membership of ARCIA encompasses vast and relevant experience which, we believe, will continue to evolve with technology. Therefore, the association should encourage all forms of wireless capabilities.

In February we met with the ACMA in relation to opportunity cost pricing for high-density UHF spectrum, and we would like to thank the ACMA for listening to our concerns. We welcome the ACMA’s decision to defer the proposed implementation of the increase in licence fees in order to better fine-tune the spectrum data, so that we can understand where demand is coming from. By deferring the increase the ACMA is acknowledging that the ARCIA submission is relevant and must be considered, an indication that the developing relationship with the ACMA is good for all in the industry.

Hamish Duff

President

Australian Radio Communications Industry Association