Mobile groups keep spectrum
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday March 4, 2010
THE three major mobile phone operators will be able to hold on to their existing spectrum without facing an auction process, the federal government has announced.The operators - Telstra, Optus and Vodafone Hutchison Australia - will retain their spectrum licences subject to a public interest test and an agreement on price. The spectrum is currently used by the telcos for their 2G and 3G services.The 15-year licences for the spectrum are reaching their end between 2013 and 2017, forcing the government to decide on the spectrum's future. While the government could have potentially opened them up to a competitive process, any move would have caused major disruption to the telcos and their 24 million subscribers."Wireless spectrum is a valuable public asset," the Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, said yesterday. "Reissue of the 15-year spectrum licences will provide ongoing access to spectrum for current and next generation communications services."The announcement gives some certainty to the mobile operators, who are keenly eyeing off the 126 MHz in spectrum space in the 700 MHz band to be made available with the analog TV switch-off.While the big three operators are the major beneficiaries of the announcement, it also includes the spectrum space used by wireless internet provider Unwired and other smaller telcos.The public interest criteria the telcos will need to meet includes: promoting the highest value use for spectrum; investment and innovation; competition; consumer convenience; and determining an appropriate rate of return to the community.The decision was welcomed by the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association, which said it would provide some certainty to the sector."Fifteen-year licences is all about enabling us to plan the investment program for new spectrum based on certainty that we will have an opportunity to retain our existing spectrum," the association's chief executive, Chris Althaus, told BusinessDay.
© 2010 Sydney Morning Herald