The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has released its five-year outlook on priorities for spectrum management and an update on the mobile broadband program and planning for technology developments including 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT).
The ACMA released its Five Year Spectrum Outlook (FYSO) to 2020, including a work plan for the current 2016-2017 financial year, on Wednesday in which it detailed plans to “deepen engagement with industry and citizens” on spectrum management priorities and work plan”.
ACMA Acting Chairman Richard Bean says the ACMA will be releasing a combined discussion paper on planning issues in 1.5 GHz and 3.6 GHz bands in the coming weeks.
It is also bringing forward consideration of the 3.6 GHz band at least four months earlier than originally foreshadowed which Bean says is in response to increasing worldwide interest in the band, which has been identified for possible use for 5G mobile telecommunications.
{loadposition peter}“The changes we have made will make the ACMA’s spectrum work program, and our accountability for it, clearer and increase the value and relevance of the FYSO to everyone with an interest in spectrum management,’ Bean said.
“It also highlights our planning for new technological developments: 5G, IoT and dynamic spectrum access (DSA).
‘Getting the spectrum access settings for 5G and IoT right will be fundamental to the success of those technologies in Australia, and the contribution they will make to productivity and economic growth.”
The FYSO provides an overview of the ACMA’s spectrum management priorities over the short to medium term, and the ACMA’s plans to address them, and Bean says it also provides visibility to stakeholders about how the ACMA is directing its resources and which spectrum projects it considers a higher priority.
This year’s FYSO is in four parts:
Part 1: Sets out the ACMA’s high-level approach to decision-making, how evidence is used to identify priorities and develop work programs, and information on external pressures that affect spectrum management.
Part 2 presents the ACMA’s 12 month work plan in two parts:
• Detailed updates on significant projects are grouped under three broad themes:
o Maximising the overall public benefit arising from the use of spectrum
o Reducing the cost to business arising from regulation
o Implementing reform outcomes
• Projects and activities listed in two tables on the basis of band-by-band projects and regulatory and service planning projects.
Part 3: Contains the ACMA’s mobile broadband strategy update, which is included in the FYSO for the first time. The update outlines each of the projects that fall under the program, with details such as the project phase, work undertaken and next steps
Part 4: Sets out the ACMA’s spectrum management work programs it expects to commence, or continue to progress, during 2017-20. It represents the ACMA’s preliminary thinking on priorities and provides an early opportunity for stakeholders to provide feedback on the ACMA’s proposed planning framework.
The ACMA is seeking comment and submissions on its FYSO and they should be submitted by 20 January 2017.