ACMA options paper spells danger to industry, warns ARCIA

The Australian Radio Communications Industry Association (ARCIA) is reminding members there is only this month (September) to comment on the latest options paper released by the federal government's Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). ARCIA Executive Officer Ian Miller, notes, "As an industry we need to take some action with regard to spectrum plans outlined by the ACMA; this is a very important issue for the future of many of our members."

As part of the development of the National Broadband Network (NBN) the government set up a company to manage the installation of the network, NBN Co. It allocated some spectrum in the 3.4 to 3.7 GHz band under spectrum licence Australia-wide for wireless delivery of broadband where other options were not economically viable.

As the NBN is now nearing completion of the initial rollout, NBN Co have talked with ACMA and agreed that, in the major urban areas such as the capital cities, they have not needed the spectrum and so have worked with the ACMA on handing that spectrum back for normal allocations. The major issue involved is managing the potential interference in the areas adjacent to the NBN Wireless services to make sure that the NBN has priority of access to deliver the services required under their charter of operations.

ACMA have held discussions with industry on how this returned spectrum could now be used to provide wireless broadband services in the major urban areas. The public carriers would all like to have access to it. They do recognise the concerns regarding interference but believe it is not a significant issue, which can be managed by the carriers if the problem does arise.

The ARCIA position has been that the spectrum should be set aside for private LTE services and licensed under apparatus licence conditions, which then can be done in such a way that there will be little chance of interference with the NBN Co services due to good spectrum management protocols. ARCIA has consistently lobbied for spectrum as a productivity benefit to the economy and not as a tool only available to some members of the telecommunications industry. Other countries have recognised the importance of open access for new technologies like broadband and 5G.

Last week the ACMA released an options paper (https://www.acma.gov.au/consultations/2021-08/planning-wireless-broadband-use-urban-areas-3400-3475-mhz-band-consultation-312021) on how they plan to utilise this spectrum. The preferred option from ACMA is to permit Wide Area Mobile Broadband (WA-MBB) services to operate with spectrum licences in this segment; that is to say: offer it under spectrum licence for the public carriers to bid for access.

The interference issue is mentioned but, basically, it will be left for the licensees (carriers) to manage to make sure the NBN services are not affected. The proposal for allocation to Local Area Mobile Broadband (LA-MBB) services like private LTE is dismissed with the comment that provision has been made at 26 GHz for those services.

This is the sticking point for ARCIA; leaving the industry with a spectrum in unexplored bands where equipment availability is still limited and expensive.

ARCIA is urging its members, as well as all of industry, to respond to the ACMA options paper and point out that there is a market for LA-MBB services and that there is a need for mid-band LTE/5G spectrum being available to meet those market demands. "I am sure that the ACMA frequency planners aren’t aware of any demand, mainly because so far there has been no spectrum available in the major urban areas to even trial systems.

"It is important that we now have multiple responses to this discussion paper pressing the case for option three detailed in the paper, which is intended to support a restricted cell scenario."

The ACMA paper outlines four options, with the preferred option being to permit 'Macro-cell (high power) format with a single operator being licenced' whereas ARCIA believe that a restricted cell format with multiple operators in any location is a better solution. In option 3, ACMA has developed possible interference management criteria with extra measures to manage interference between different urban excise licensees. In addition to these, as a general rule, licensees will be free to negotiate alternative arrangements with affected parties on a case-by-case basis.

For ARCIA this means a restricted cell format, with multiple operators licensed so that private LTE services can be offered to the many industry segments that our members support. "Imagine, locations like airports and seaports cannot get access to spectrum for the efficiency gains they will get from having their own LTE/5G system, they are being forced to use the public carriers’ systems whether they like it or not," said a concerned Miller.

The paper lists seven questions for comment. While ARCIA is not concerned regarding questions 1, 2 and 3, they feel a need to have multiple responses to questions 4 through to 7 arguing the case for the restricted cell option to give the industry access to spectrum.

ARCIA is asking all to read and respond to the paper linked above and is willing to assist if requested. The responses are due before 30 September 2021, so urgency is a priority.

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