A key national resource

I am delighted to contribute to the inaugural issue of Critical Comms and welcome the opportunity to highlight some of the important spectrum work being delivered by my agency, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA).

I appreciate that I am speaking to a converted audience but it cannot be overstated just how crucial a resource spectrum is. It is one of the great enablers of the 21st century, a century increasingly being driven by technological innovation. Spectrum does not just facilitate communication; it has changed the very concept of how we interact with the world around us. This transformative capacity is not something that any of us, least of all regulators, can take for granted. Management of this finite national resource materially contributes to our region’s fundamental economic growth and social development.

The past year has seen the ACMA deliver on a significant number of key spectrum initiatives, including the reallocation of the digital dividend spectrum; establishing new arrangements for a number of key bands; and implementing ongoing arrangements for the introduction of a new technologies and innovations. These achievements were the result of extensive work undertaken by the ACMA in close consultation with industry and government. I am proud of the high-quality outcomes that have been produced.

However, there is no time to stop and rest. The ACMA’s spotlight has now shifted from the reallocation of the digital dividend to identifying mechanisms to meet the ever-increasing demand for spectrum to enable participation in the digital economy. Developments in technology have transformed the way we conduct most parts of our lives. Use of spectrum is no longer intermittent and discrete. Our devices - whether personal (like smartphones and pacemakers), private (like smart meters and asset trackers) or public (like disaster warning systems) - are now always on.

There are a number of key implications of this seemingly relentless growth in demand for spectrum. We need to continue to seek and implement improvements in the efficiency of spectrum use (and Australian industry and researchers are great innovators in this field). We need to continue moving spectrum to its highest value use as this changes over time, recognising and valuing the diverse range of monetary and non-monetary contributions that users of spectrum make to the Australian economy and society more generally.

The ACMA continues to critically evaluate demand and the need for spectrum across all sectors to better understand the complex and dynamic interaction of social, economic and technical factors that drive spectrum requirements. To this end, we have commissioned two bodies of research - Spectrum Demand Forecasting for Wireless Access Services and the Economic Impacts of Mobile Broadband. This research, the first in an ongoing series of commissioned research, will contribute to the ACMA’s evidence-informed and forward-looking work program with the intent of ensuring that we remain abreast of the game in enabling Australian society to reap the benefits of the digital age.

The current framework for managing Australia’s spectrum resource has served us well for almost 20 years. However, in an industry that has undergone significant social, market and political change, as well as rapid technological change, we need to focus on refining and reforming our regulatory toolkit to make sure that regulation does not become an impediment to Australia realising its full potential from spectrum use.

A key priority for the ACMA is to be unrelenting in our push for ongoing reform and review of the spectrum management toolkit. To achieve the best possible economic and social benefits from use of spectrum, we will continue to engage and participate meaningfully with the experts in the field - the innovators in all parts of industry.

Chris Chapman is the Chairman and CEO of the Australian Communications and Media Authority.