Under section 3 of the Radiocommunications Act 1992, the object of the Act is to provide for management of the radiofrequency spectrum in order to achieve a list of outcomes, the first of which is to “maximise, by ensuring the efficient allocation and use of the spectrum, the overall public benefit derived from using the radiofrequency spectrum”. Included in this list of outcomes is to support the communications policy objectives of the Commonwealth Government.
The Government’s Communications Policy Objectives for the Allocation of the 26 GHz band are summarised below, and expressed in further detail at the above links:
- Supporting the deployment of 5G technologies
- Promoting competitive market outcomes for the long term benefit of consumers
- Promoting the efficient allocation and use of spectrum
- Promoting co-existence with existing services
- Supporting technological innovation and a range of wireless broadband use cases
- Encouraging investment in infrastructure, including in regional Australia
These six objectives are relevant to the entire mix of class, apparatus and spectrum licences that will be introduced across the 26 GHz and neighbouring bands. To emphasise their continued relevance, in conjunction with setting limits for the allocation of spectrum licences in the 26 GHz band, the Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP, wrote to the Chair of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) asking that the ACMA have regard to the objectives in the allocation of apparatus licences in both the 26 GHz and 28 GHz bands.
- Read the Minister’s Letter To ACMA
- Allocation Limits Direction