Draft rules published for digital dividend auction

The ACMA has published draft rules for the digital dividend spectrum auction, said to be the biggest to be held in a decade.

“Publishing the draft rules is a key milestone for the ACMA in preparing for the auction,” said Giles Tanner, general manager of the ACMA’s Digital Transition Division. “Over the past months, we have been actively engaging with stakeholders - I’m pleased that we have their buy-in on the approach we’re taking.”

The draft rules consists of two parts - the allocation instruments and the technical instruments.

Once finalised, the allocation instruments will provide the legal basis for the auction. The allocation instruments will describe the spectrum products that are being offered and set out the rules for how the auction will be conducted.

The allocation instruments are:

• two marketing plans - one for the 700 MHz band and one for the 2.5 GHz band;
• an allocation determination.

The technical instruments will set out the technical rules that the spectrum winner(s) must abide by when using the spectrum.

The technical instruments are:

• an unacceptable interference determination;
• radiocommunications advisory guidelines for each band.

To assist interested parties in making a submission, the ACMA has prepared an information paper to explain the draft rules and provide context. It will also be hosting a webinar for stakeholders on Tuesday, 24 April 2012, to give an opportunity for interested parties to ask questions about the draft rules.

Stakeholders have until Wednesday, 9 May 2012, to submit their responses to the draft rules. Responses should be sent to majorspectrumallocations@acma.gov.au.

A further discussion paper will be published in the second quarter of 2012, which will focus on licence commencement matters, including when the spectrum will become available.

“Participating in the auction will be a significant investment for stakeholders,” Tanner said. “We are listening to stakeholders to get their views on how we can maximise product certainty for prospective bidders.”

The ACMA has also published a consultation paper, Proposed updates to the spectrum licence framework, which sets out the proposed changes to update and simplify the conditions applying to 15-year spectrum licences. They are intended to apply to all spectrum licences issued from 2012 onwards, including the licence(s) that will be awarded in the digital dividend auction.