VODAFONE: Downplays CEO talk of Australian divestment

TELSTRA: Counting the cost of energy use

LETTER: Reflections on the new spectrum paper

TELSTRA
Small cells deployment
expands mobile
to rural settlements

COMMUNICATIONS DAY
24 NOVEMBER 2014

Daily telecom news & analysis since 1994

ISSUE 4789

Emergency services spectrum

to get cost-benefit analysis
The Federal Government has followed through on a promise it made before the last election to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the best way to deliver a mobile broadband capability for public safety
agencies. The CBA will be conducted by the Productivity Commission and will include consultation
with industry.
The government has called for a first principles analysis of the most efficient and effective way
of delivering broadband by 2020, including the most cost-effective combination of private and public
inputs, services and expertise. It said that Commonwealth, State and Territory governments all recognised the potential benefits of an effective national public safety mobile broadband capability for
agencies such as police, fire and ambulance services.
The Federal Department of Communications will shortly write to its state and territory counterparts seeking their comments on a draft terms of reference for the cost-benefit analysis. The Productivity Commission will then consult with government and non-government stakeholders following
the receipt of the terms of reference.
The issue of mobile broadband capability for emergency services organisations has been ongoing for a number of years and the subject of
multiple reviews. A number of public safety agencies have been calling
for 20MHz of dedicated spectrum in either the 700MHz or 800MHz
bands.
In 2012, the Australian Communications and Media Authority announced that it would set aside 10MHz (2 x 5MHz) of spectrum in
800MHz for public safety agencies. However, the organisations have
never been satisfied with the ACMA's decision, arguing that 20MHz was
the minimum that would be needed for future broadband use.
The ACMA has previously responded that its allocation of 10MHz of
spectrum was based on work done by the Public Safety Mobile Broadband Steering Committee, which had a membership drawn from Commonwealth agencies, including the ACMA, and numerous peak bodies representing PSAs.
Based on the recommendations in the PSMBSCs reports, the spectrum provided by the ACMA
was considered sufficient for all of the scenarios modelled, except for the worst case scenario, which
would not be able to be served solely by an 800 MHz PSMB network even if double the amount of
spectrum was provided, it said in one submission at the time.
The move to conduct a cost-benefit analysis was welcomed by Police Federation of Australia
spokesman Mark Burgess (pictured), who told CommsDay that it was a commitment the government
had made to the organisation. The PFA has been one of the most vocal lobbyists on behalf of emergency services group supporting dedicated spectrum.
Burgess said the PFA would again be involved in the process but he said he was confident that the
CBA would support the need for emergency services to have the full 20MHz of spectrum, noting

that similar studies overseas had made the same recommendations.

He also suggested that emergency service organisations needed to develop a governance model and
a management group so that they could coordinate with potential partners within the private sector.
The PFA has also called for the allocation of 20MHz of spectrum in a submission to the government's
current spectrum review, which is being conducted in conjunction with the ACMA. In the submission, it claimed that without dedicated spectrum, it would put police and emergency services in a
position of having a monopoly supplier in a position to dictate to them the price, quality, security and
terms of a capability essential to their public safety functions in the 21st century.
The only way to avoid this is for public safety to have dedicated spectrum. The telecommunications companies seem to be advocating, contrary to the Act, that law enforcement and emergency services should have zero broadband spectrum, the submission noted.
Despite the objections, law enforcement agencies currently make use of Telstra's LTE network for
operations. Its service is known as LANES LTE Advanced Network for Emergency Services and
was most recently used for the G20 meetings in Brisbane.
According to Burgess, the service had worked well, but he noted that it probably had not been
put to the test given there were no major incidents. However, he said the coming fire season could
raise issues again. It's unfortunate that it sometimes takes a disaster to get people's attention, Burgess noted.
Geoff Long

Telstra adapts small cells to

improve rural data coverage
Telstra has begun a rollout of small cells in regional Australia that will bring mobile data services to
some small rural communities for the first time. It will initially target 50 sites across the country and
is being done in conjunction with equipment supplier Ericsson.
Small cell technology is typically used to boost coverage and capacity in densely populated urban
areas, particularly around office buildings and shopping centres. However, Telstra has now completed
a trial of the technology in Yangan, a small town in the Southern Downs Region of Queensland, and
found that it can be adapted for rural areas.
Telstra director of wireless network engineering, Channa Seneviratne told CommsDay that its novel use of small cells came out of the company's engineering team and it could be one of the first carriers in the world to adopt the strategy.
He said the Yangan trial proved successful, providing solid on-street 4G coverage to virtually the
entire town and was popular with residents. It will next rollout the service in Avoca in Victoria. Seneviratne said the sites chosen all had existing backhaul that it could use, with the small cells typically
installed at an exchange.
The rollout will now be extended to around 50 sites in Victoria, NSW and Queensland. The initial batch of sites will be switched on before the end of the year, with more to come online early next
year.
In some cases, this will be the first time residents will be able to access mobile broadband services,
with existing mobile coverage in the area almost non-existent, Seneviratne said. These would also be
areas where it would not be commercially viable to build and maintain a full base station.
According to Seneviratne, the cost of install a small cell can be as low as 10-20% the cost of having to install a base station at each site. He also noted that it would be complementary to the Federal
Government's mobile blackspots programme, with the team advising the government of where it will
be providing coverage.
So far the 4G technology cant support voice services in these areas. However, Seneviratne said
that Telstra plans to implement Voice over LTE in 2015, which will allow for voice and video calls
from suitable handsets. It is currently trialling VoLTE technology but no timeframe has been given
COMMUNICATIONS DAY 24 November 2014 Page 2

for its launch.

He also said because the service was data only, Telstra would be working with local communities to
educate them on the technology, expected coverage and possible voice limitations. It will also be implementing an SMS solution to advise customers when they are travelling through a 4G only area.
Geoff Long

Vodafone CEOs loose comment

sparks 24 hours of divestment talk
Vodafone has quickly moved to quash talk that it could be looking to exit from the Australian market, with a statement issued by the local subsidiary noting that recent comments by group CEO Vittorio Colao should not be interpreted as an indication it wants to sell.
Vodafone has no plans to sell its business in Australia. Vodafone Group Chief Executive Vittorio
Colao was asked a question related to three of Vodafone's markets when speaking at an investor conference. He did not indicate that Vodafone is considering selling these businesses. Instead, he pointed out that - as a general principle Vodafone will always have an open mind
about its portfolio and will always act in the best interests of shareholders.
This was a generic statement and was in no way intended to imply that we
have specific plans for any Vodafone local market, the firm said in its statement.
Colao had made his comments at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media
and Telecoms conference in Barcelona, where he said that group would be
open to selling off more non-core assets including its Australian, Hungarian
and Czech Republic subsidiaries if the right offer was forthcoming.
Colao told the conference that the Group was constantly checking with
parties interested in some of its less core assets. He emphasised, however, that any move to divest
would not result in a cut-rate sale of the assets in question.
We would consider sales but are not distressed sellers, so therefore we must sell at full value,
he noted. Otherwise we [will] keep them and manage the cash.
Earlier this month, Swiss investment bank UBS had reported that Vodafone Group was facing
unevenly balanced divisions in terms of revenue growth and that the sale of its Australian unit alone
could net it A$2.73 billion.
The Australian division, which is half-owned by Hutchison, sustained major network failures in
2011 that led to the business losing more than 2 million subscribers to its rivals over the past two
years.
Richard van der Draay

Telstra counts the cost of rising energy use

Energy efficiency measures enabled by ICT could save Australian organisations around $8 billion per
year, according to Telstra's GM for environment Pauline Gregg. However, in research revealed by the
carrier the country is only realising $1.6 billion in potential cost savings.
Gregg was speaking at a forum in Melbourne organised by the Centre for Energy-Efficient Telecommunications a partnership between the University of Melbourne, the Victorian State Government and Alcatel-Lucent's Bell Labs which recently hosted a global meeting of Internet efficiency
researchers.
Gregg told the forum that 90% of Telstra's carbon emissions come from powering its network. As
a result, it has embarked on a major initiative to reduce both its energy costs and carbon footprint.
Telstra first did the research into the potential for ICT to reduce both energy costs and emissions
back in 2007. The carrier then revisited its report earlier this year.
We found that ICT's role in cost and carbon reduction is more significant today than it was seven
COMMUNICATIONS DAY 24 November 2014 Page 3

years ago. In those seven years the potential dollar savings enabled by ICT increased by 47% and potential emission savings rose by 8.5%, she said.
So we say that today ICT can save Australian organisations $8.1 billion every year in electricity,
fuel and aviation travel costs while reducing national emissions by 4.7%. This reduction is really quite
significant and it's equivalent to taking two-thirds of Australia's passenger vehicles off the road, Gregg added.
Telstra suggests that the country is currently only realising
$1.6 billion in cost savings and carbon abatement of 2.5 million tonnes per year. So that actually means that there are
significant opportunities left on the table, she told the forum, adding that the main barriers are budgeting for efficiency measures, the cost of the capital investment, and the cultural changes needed.
Technologies that could be adopted include clean cloud
in more efficient data centres, smart city infrastructure, and
mobile carbon guidance, where energy advice is available
when purchasing products.
One of Telstra's main challenges is reducing energy consumption as demand for data grows across its networks. Gregg
said that the amount of data carried over its network increased by 39% last year and 45% the year
before that. So we need to find ways of minimising our energy costs to be more efficient but also to
reduce our carbon footprint, she said.
Telstra's main focus is on its enterprise and government customers. It has a five-year, $41 million
programme in place to make its network facilities more energy and carbon efficient. The programme
includes considering energy efficiency in the design of the network and using it as a criteria in the
selection of future networking equipment.
Geoff Long

Bulletproof boosts local headcount,

readies for rapid growth in cloud market
Australian cloud services specialist Bulletproof has increased its headcount, in a move to bolster its
support and technical capacity for existing and new customers. It said it had hired 19 additional staff
between July and October, bringing its total headcount to 69.
CEO Mark Randall said the company would continue to ramp up investments to bolster its support services for existing and new customers as it looked to cement its market position in managed
cloud services.
The firm boosted its Melbourne presence by opening an office earlier this year and also installed
staff globally as it executes a follow-the-sun support strategy, offering 24/7 support to customers. The
move comes in the wake of what the firm said was a significant 12 months in which it signed up
120 new customers and noted rapid growth in revenues, with the market increasingly demanding
managed cloud services.
The past year saw Bulletproof kick off its partner program, ink strategic tech partnerships, and list
on the Australian Securities Exchange. The firm cited Frost & Sullivan statistics which showed that
the Australian cloud computing industry hit A$1.23 billion in 2013 and was expected to jump to
A$4.55 billion by 2018.
Some 69% of all Australian businesses currently use some form of cloud computing service, with
companies finding an average cost saving of 12% from adoption of these services, Bulletproof noted.
Richard van der Draay

COMMUNICATIONS DAY 24 November 2014 Page 4

Tech Mahindra buys Lightbridge

Communications for US$240m
Tech Mahindra, which counts all major telco operators in Australia as clients, announced it has acquired US-headquartered network engineering firm, Lightbridge Communications for US$240 million. As part of the deal, Tech Mahindra gains 5,000 additional network professionals across five continents, and an organisation that has built 350 networks and designed more than 350,000 cell sites
for over 400 operators. The deal is subject to regulatory approval.
According to Tech Mahindra SVP and head of telecom, APAC Jason Ong, the acquisition will
have significant implications for Tech Mahindras telco-related businesses and operations in the Asia
Pacific. Amidst intense competition among regional telcos to increase market share, ARPU and to
offer additional services, network engineering is becoming a critical differentiator, Ong said. The
acquisition positions Tech Mahindra as the pre-eminent partner for network services in the region
and globally.
Specific to the Australian and New Zealand markets, the firm said that Lightbridge will enhance its
capability to set up and rollout networks quickly in the ANZ region. The deal will also expand its integration of telco services in the two countries, as well as offer a one-stop shop for telecoms customers.
Tony Chan

Spark NZ, Huawei expand mobile collaboration

Spark New Zealand and Huawei have inked a memorandum of understanding to collaborate further
on ways to underpin New Zealands mobile future. The partnership was signed at a ceremony in
Auckland attended by Chinese president Xi Jinping and New Zealand prime minister John Key.
The two companies plan to widen an existing joint innovation program, which was set up in 2013
and had seen Spark NZ launch the worlds first 700MHz trial.
These sorts of partnerships play a strong role in Huaweis product development, said Huawei NZ
CEO Jason Wu. They allow us to meet regularly with customers, discuss how consumers are using
their networks and the ways in which we can help to improve their experience.
Spark NZ COO David Havercroft said the partnership would boost its rollout of the 700MHz mobile network. Collaborating with Huawei has already led to a number of new customer products and
business services for New Zealanders, particularly in the rapidly growing area of mobility, he noted.
Spark has already made carrier aggregation technology available on six of its 4G mobile sites and
work is also commencing to use Huawei technology to upgrade the New Zealand carriers 3G network
nationwide, replacing the existing equipment with its single radio access network platform. SRAN
allows operators to support multiple network technologies such as 3G and 4G without the need to
operate and maintain multiple networks independently.
This has proven a huge benefit globally with layering of technologies in a single hardware package
delivering huge cost savings, improved performance and a much simpler upgrade path, said Wu.
In addition to the Spark collaboration, the Chinese vendor signed an MoU with SingTel during the
Global Mobile Broadband Forum in Shanghai recently. The two will launch the 5G Joint Innovation
Program, a research hub for the advancement of 5G mobile broadband technologies.
Richard van der Draay

Verizon reportedly trialling bare metal switches

Verizon Communications is reportedly planning a trial of bare metal switches so called white boxes
that run third party switching software. According to an article by the Rayno Report, Verizon
sources said the operator is making a massive push for bare metal.
They have a huge initiative under way, the source told the report. They can reduce their costs
massively.
Verizon is said to be sourcing technology from a number of vendors, including Cumulus for its
COMMUNICATIONS DAY 24 November 2014 Page 5

Linux-based network operating system, Pica8 for the switching software, and Juniper for routing and
switching technology. These technologies will be deployed inside commoditised servers as software.
No other details were available regarding the specific trial, but a second Verizon source told the
website that a similar strategy has been adopted by a new network for connecting together its cloud
computer facilities.
Verizon division VP Dawane Young told Rayno Report that a bare metal approach will be used to
build the Verizon Cloud network, which will be used to connect together its data centres. According
to Young, the network will be based on servers from Super Micro, and run SDN software. There is no
confirmation that two Verizon projects specifying the use of bare metal switches are related.
The news comes days after major vendors, including Juniper Networks and Alcatel-Lucent, announced the virtualisation of key networking equipment. Juniper Networks announced earlier that it
has released a virtual, or software-based, version of its MX Series 3D Universal Edge Routing platform, while Alcatel-Lucent launched its Virtualised Service Router last week. Brocade also has product on the market through its acquisition of Vyetta.
While it is too early to gauge the results of the Verizons trial, its outcome will likely have a major
impact on the network equipment sector. A successful trial could accelerate the adoption of virtual
routers and switches, thus putting pressure on vendors particularly Cisco, who have yet to release a
virtual router, and have a huge installed base of physical units. A failed trial could dampen the momentum behind software-defined networking and network functions virtualisation.
Tony Chan

Tata Communications launches

mobile local number service
Tata Communication has launched a new service that allows organisations and service providers to
set up local mobile numbers in overseas markets. The new mobile local number service enables overthe-top players and cloud companies to expand their presence into markets where they have no physical office.
OTTs and cloud communications companies need a better way to get local mobile numbers than
by going operator-to-operator, said Tata Communications SVP product and business strategy for
Global Voice Solutions Christian Michaud. Thanks to our relationships with over 1,600 service providers, mobile LNS enables cloud communication providers and mobile operators to enter new markets and scale quickly and efficiently. It also enables greater enhancement to apps or platforms, giving
end-users better options and higher quality voice calls and SMS.
In addition to giving OTTs the ability to receive calls and text from a local mobile number in their
selected market, the mobile LNS service also allows for the integration of communications services
into online services such as unified communications apps, social networking services, and instant
messaging accounts, Tata Com said.
Online platforms, social networks and VoIP providers can now add low-cost international voice
calls and SMS to their offerings, the operator said. Overseas callers simply dial or text a local number; the call or message is then delivered to the providers platform using Tata Communications global IP network, and sent to the device of the person they dialled.
Compared to pure OTT services, Tata said mobile LNS also offers higher quality and reliability
because the calls and texts use carrier networks.
Tony Chan

Huaweis vision for 5G: higher peak rates,

more connections, 1ms latency
Huawei CEO Eric Xu took the opportunity at the Global Mobile Broadband Forum 2014 in Shanghai to express the companys view on the development of 5G, noting that a clear definition of next
COMMUNICATIONS DAY 24 November 2014 Page 6

generation wireless technologies is of utmost importance.

While he acknowledged that the technology is still in the early stage of research and development,
comparing 5G to where LTE was in 2004, he believes that 5G should be able to offer a better mobile
broadband experience.
5G is expected to provide a better MBB experience by meeting the requirements of high spectrum
rates, high peak rates, large number of connections and 1 millisecond latency, allowing operators networks to support more 'Mobile Network of Things' connections and thereby promote the MBB industry, Xu said. Huawei will continue investing in 5G, working closely with the entire industry.
At the same time, Huawei also laid out its vision for future mobile networks. According to
Huawei, operators will maintain GSM/UMTS thin networks on low bands like 900MHz to satisfy
existing 2G and 3G users with basic voice and data services, as well as roaming support. All remaining
spectrum bands, including both TDD and FDD frequencies, will then deploy LTE in combination to
offer the best end-user experience, the company asserted.
The company added that challenges remain for operators today, including having to deal with multiple spectrum bands, multiple modes of LTE, and keeping up with the continuing evolution of the
technology.
Tony Chan

US$28.7bn benefit await mobile operators

through optimisation: ABI Research
A second research report has highlighted the importance of mobile data performance for operators in
maintaining its revenue and customer base, this time with a price tag attached.
While an earlier Ovum report noted that operators risk as much as 50% of their customers going
elsewhere due to poor data speeds on their networks, a new report by ABI Research put the estimated
savings and benefits of optimising data performance for global mobile operators at some US$28.7
billion over a five year period.
32% of that amount consisted of benefit from total cost of ownership and virtual capacity saving,
another 45% came from reduced churn of customers, while 23% represented potential upgrades to
end-user tariff plans.
From being an add-on, supplementary service, the mobile internet has become an essential service
to many users lives, commented ABI Research VP and 4G practice director Jake Saunders. Endusers are increasing their expectations to be able to access their Facebook page and/or stream their
favourite video clips or soap operas from YouTube or Youku whenever they want.
According to ABI, mobile operators are starting to realise a poor video and internet experience
could lead end-users to try out other service providers. The researchers added that mobile video optimisation solutions providers like Operas Skyfire, Citrix, and Flash Networks have stepped up with
solutions such as video caching, trans-rating and trans-coding technologies.
Tony Chan

TELSTRA APPOINTS JOE POLLARD AS NEW MEDIA AND MARKETING HEAD

Telstra has appointed former Publicis Mojo and Ninemsn CEO Joe Pollard as its new group MD for
media and marketing. The role had been open following the departure of Mark Buckman in July this
year. Gordon Ballantyne, group executive, Telstra retail, said Pollard's strategic digital credentials will
enhance the company's media and marketing capabilities. He said her appointment comes at an important time as Telstra continues to develop its media business as a key growth opportunity.
SIMON HACKETT JOINS REDFLOW BOARD
Internode founder and NBN Co director Simon Hackett has joined the board of Australian battery
specialist RedFlow as a non-executive director, taking up the role during the firms annual general
meeting held in Brisbane. Last May, Hackett invested $2.2 million in the ASX-listed company, which
COMMUNICATIONS DAY 24 November 2014 Page 7

is one of the first to install fully operational and functional zinc-bromide modules into a range of stationary energy applications. After a long period of research and development, RedFlow is now in full
commercial production of its battery systems. Hackett claimed that the company offers a truly disruptive technology that can contribute strongly to the renewable energy revolution.
MOBILE EMBRACE SNAPS UP PERFORMANCE FACTORY
Sydney-based mobile payments specialist Mobile Embrace has acquired online and mobile performance marketing firm The Performance Factory. The purchase was finalised for a total consideration
of A$3.2 million, plus potential consideration of up to a further A$4 million over two years. Mobile
Embrace said the acquisition would leverage the firms media trading desk within its mobile payments
unit Convey. In addition, Mobile Embrace announced that The Performance Factory CEO Andrew
Kilday will be joining the company on a three-year performance contract.
AMCOM COMPLETES MEGAPORT ACQUISITION
Amcom has completed its acquisition of Megaport, with Amcom CEO Clive Stein saying the purchase would dramatically increase the firms network reach in the Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane
markets. This strategic expansion will further leverage our existing east coast wholesale and channel
sales distribution network, said Stein. We have been working on this plan throughout 2014 and it
is very pleasing to now have the various elements in place. He noted that Amcom was wellpositioned financially and operationally to continue delivering organic and acquisitive growth and
added that growth from the east coast data network was forecast to be earnings accretive in FY16 and
had the potential to contribute up to 20% of earnings in FY17.
CIENA, AVAYA TEAM UP FOR ON-DEMAND SERVICES
Ciena and Avaya have collaborated on an end-to-end wide area network-local area network data service, designed to offer enterprises control when delivering on-demand services. Based on Avayas fabric connect and Cienas converged packet optical and packet switching platforms, the new service allows companies to migrate to new service models, including hybrid clouds and data centre consolidation. Avaya noted that the partnership with Ciena was part of its ongoing drive to reduce network
and data centre complexity and supply an infrastructure to optimise the performance of sensitive
business communications applications.
ON THIS DAY 10 YEARS AGO: FROM THE COMMSDAY 2004 ARCHIVES
Optus and Vodafone Australia signed a binding agreement to share 3G network sites and radio infrastructure across Australia, with the 50/50 joint venture to include sharing of more than 2,000 base
stations nationally, the creation of core networks and the extension of radio access networks the
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission wanted to extend number portability to data
network access service numbers used for applications such as internet dial-up, Austpac access and the
provision of SMS by Yahoo, MSN and ICQ between messenger and mobile customers Henry Ergas
Network Economics Consulting Group was acquired by Charles River Associates APAC for A$13
million in a cash and equity deal, with Ergas set to remain with the group and specialise in competitive issues within telecoms and other network industries.

Letter to the editor from Andrew Kerans

DOC spectrum paper a good plan

The Department of Communications paper provides a good basis for future spectrum planning, however I havent found much in it that has not been a strong topic of conversation within the ACMA
and its predecessors over the last two decades.
The first proposal builds upon the ACMAs Five year Spectrum Outlook. The FYSO was designed
COMMUNICATIONS DAY 24 November 2014 Page 8

to be an open look at planning priorities over five years. In fact the original plan was designed to look
out 15 years but with the caveat that thinking that far out was purely speculative.
Ministerial intervention is also not new, the Acts the ACMA operate under allow for that. Ministerial intervention has in the past been a mixed blessing. There have been instances where this intervention was based upon a well-defined and researched need and was welcome, however there have
also been instances where Ministerial Advisors have made recommendations that were not in Australias best interests and were based purely on political expediency. So, exception based intervention is
the right method as long as that is the way it is used. Spectrum regulation is a complex science and I
am yet to meet an Advisor who understands it.
The second proposal, a single licensing system is an interesting one. For many years there has been
discussion about the need for a stand-alone spectrum licence. Instead why not have a single licence
type with a variable tenure out to a maximum, in this case 15 years. Whether 15 years is enough is
moot. I personally dont think it is, but there needs to be a careful balance between tenure and the
need to occasionally re-plan spectrum. Especially where compensation is payable.
But how does a class licence fit this model? Commons are a legitimate way to manage spectrum
and the success of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth has proven this. But I fail to see how these could be absorbed
into a single tenure based licence type. These bands are what they are because of technology and this
technology isnt going to come and go, or change, to suit an artificial licence tenure. So I think class
licensing should be left the way it is while apparatus and spectrum licenses are brought together.
Rent seeking is another thing where care is needed. The amount of money paid to Commercial
TV operators to leave bands they occupied is a case in point. I doubt governments can afford to pay
these types of compensation claims across the board and so this issue needs to be addressed. Effectively though, if the tenure is 15 years then at the end of this nothing should be payable.
Another case where compensation should not be paid is for secondary or class licensed use. An
example is wireless microphones. These systems squatted on unused spectrum, a gratuity, but then
sought compensation when the band was reallocated. No compensation should be payable and this
should be enshrined in the legislation. To do otherwise will slow the pace of spectrum reform and
harm the economy.
The paper also talks about a deep spectrum market. Well this has been a dream of quasieconomists for years, but to date it has never happened. Where is this depth going to come from? It
the beachfront bands there simply isnt enough spectrum. Of course you could carve it into smaller
blocks which would force a market to operate. But this would be technically inefficient. To do this
simply to create an artificial market would be, in my view, a folly.
This ageing market talk continues through the use of the well-worn term highest value use. The
problem is nobody has ever managed to define the value of the public good or indeed the value of a
mixed use. Quite often mixing one use in regional areas and another in cities will produce the greatest benefit to the consumer and the economy. One example is satellite and mobile in C band. In the
cities the best use id mobile using Het-Net technology. In the bush the best use is satellite VSATs and
gateways. The (then) ACA failed to get this right in the 26 30GHz bands and it has caused problems for Ka band satellite systems ever since. So great care needs to be taken with the put it to auction mantra that has dominated the debate for the past two decades, perhaps some more refined
thinking is needed.
Overall though this paper draws a much needed line in the sand and puts on paper the collective
thoughts of spectrum planners over the last two decades. Hopefully the outcome will crystallise this
thinking and provide a better way to manage spectrum, better that the current Act which was drafted
before the first AMPS mobile phone tower was installed in Australia.
Dr Andrew Kerans is a spectrum regulatory specialist and the principal of Spectrum Management Associates.

COMMUNICATIONS DAY 24 November 2014 Page 9