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Focus: Digital Dividend Green Paper released

2 February 2010

In brief: The Federal Government has released a Green Paper calling for submissions on the potential size, location, uses, costs and benefits of the digital dividend, ahead of analogue television switch-off commencing this year. Partner Ian McGill (view CV), Lawyer Valeska Bloch and Summer Clerk Rebecca Linquist report.

How does it affect you?

  • The Green Paper flags the Government's intention to 'restack' broadcasting services to enable a contiguous block of spectrum at the upper end of the broadcasting services band portion of the UHF Band V to be freed up for alternative uses: the so-called digital dividend. The Government envisages that this block will comprise at least 126MHz of spectrum.
  • Restacking of the spectrum will impact on viewers of digital television, broadcasters, and users of certain low interference devices.
  • The digital dividend may be used for a variety of purposes, including the provision of new communications services (eg super-fast mobile broadband), the delivery of mobile television and multimedia services, improving the quality and scope of existing broadcasting services, and for the provision of new broadcasting services. Internationally, the digital dividend has been earmarked for the implementation of international mobile telecommunications (IMT).
  • Submissions on the Green Paper are due by 26 February 2010.

Background

Since 2001, Australia has been preparing for transition from analogue television broadcasting to broadcasting in digital mode. Currently, commercial television broadcasting services each have 7MHz of spectrum (in addition to the 7MHz they are each allocated to provide an analogue service) to provide both a core broadcasting service that simulcasts their analogue station in digital mode and various multi-channels in digital mode.

From 2010 to 2013, analogue television will progressively be switched off through a staged process, commencing with certain regional areas and concluding with metropolitan areas. As a result of the analogue switch-off, significant amounts of spectrum will become available. The benefit of using this freed-up spectrum is known as the digital dividend.

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Who is responsible for the digital dividend?

Although the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) fulfils various planning, management and compliance functions in respect of the radiofrequency spectrum, the replanning of the broadcasting services bands (BSB) specifically is a decision for the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.1 The Minister may designate part of the spectrum for broadcasting purposes and refer it to ACMA for planning.2

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Restacking and technical considerations

The Green Paper notes that in order to realise fully the benefit of the digital dividend by freeing up a contiguous 126MHz block of spectrum, existing broadcasting services will need to be restacked. This decision is consistent with the Government's stated principles that 'larger contiguous blocks of spectrum are more economically optimal than smaller or interleaved blocks'3, and that realising the dividend may involve trade-offs between efficiency on the one hand, and the level of disruption to current spectrum users (including both television viewers and broadcasters) on the other.

The Green Paper acknowledges that the impact of restacking on viewers, broadcasters and other users of the BSB may include:

  • for viewers, the need to conduct a rescan of their television receiver or set-top box in order to continue receiving channels that have been changed;
  • for broadcasters, a requirement to move a number of digital television services to different frequencies, which may necessitate purchasing new transmission equipment or retuning existing equipment; and
  • for other users, the diminishing of the amount of white space in which low interference potential devices operate, and the inability to access frequencies that were previously utilised by users of these low interference devices.

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Potential uses of the digital dividend

The BSB encompass the UHF and VHF bands of the radiofrequency spectrum, which are highly valuable because of their propagation characteristics and because, if packaged correctly, they may be used for a variety of purposes. The Green Paper canvasses a variety of potential uses for the digital dividend, including:

  • Mobile telecommunications and broadband: Spectrum demand for these services is rapidly increasing and being fuelled further by the advent of 4G networks, including long-term evolution and mobile WiMAX. ACMA's Communications Report 2008-2009 reports that between June 2008 and June 2009, the number of wireless broadband subscribers increased by 162 per cent. Internationally, this has been the primary use made of the digital dividend, most recently with the United States auctioning off the majority of the licenses for 700MHz of their digital dividend to telecommunications providers. The International Telecommunications Union has earmarked the digital dividend spectrum for the implementation of IMT.
  • Fixed wireless broadband and national broadband network spectrum implications: The growth of wireless broadband is likely to be influenced by the Government's commitment to provide fibre-to-the premises to 90 per cent of the population, and the remaining coverage via next-generation wireless and satellite technologies. The Green Paper notes that the expansion of fixed line capacity may assist the development of wireless services through the provision of competitively priced backhaul, enabling wireless and fixed services to complement each other.
  • Mobile television and multimedia: The transmission of television content to mobile devices is another potential use. There are currently three main delivery options for mobile television: unicasting, multicasting and broadcasting. Unicasting services are already provided in Australia and various mobile broadcasting trials have taken place.
  • Broadcasting services: The digital dividend could be used to improve the quality and scope of existing broadcasting services, eg by addressing the problems associated with digital black spots, enabling the provision of additional channels and/or additional HDTV content, extending the terrestrial coverage of existing digital television services, or converting local government or community-run analogue television retransmission facilities to digital. The digital dividend could also be used in the migration to next-generation broadcasting technologies such as DVB-T2 and MPEG-4. 
  • Other uses: Other potential uses for the digital dividend include defence and law enforcement services, emergency services, public and community services, meteorological functions, and uses typically associated with low-interference devices that operate in the 'white-space' between television broadcasts, eg wireless audio devices such as radio microphones and biomedical telemetry transmitters.

In making the future decision regarding the allocation of the digital dividend, the Government is likely to keep in mind its stated principles that 'the digital dividend should be thought of as an economic gain' and that 'as a technology taker, Australia needs to align spectrum allocations with major developed countries or risk not being able to utilise the latest communications equipment produced for these countries'.4

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Looking forward

The upcoming vacation of the analogue spectrum, expiry of current spectrum licences and the release of spectrum in the 3.6GHz and 2.5GHz bands mean that the Government and ACMA are in a unique position to harmonise their approach to spectrum management and maximise the efficiency and use of relevant services. Given the Government's stated principles (as expressed in the Green Paper) and the international approach to date, it seems likely that at least a portion of the digital dividend will be auctioned off for wireless access services such as mobile broadband. Exactly how this will occur is by no means clear; however, the Government is continuing to seek public comment on the relevant issues. Submissions on the Green Paper are due by 26 February 2010.

If you have questions about this, or any other communications, technology and media issue, please contact one of the people below.

Footnotes
  1. Section 31 of the Radiocommunications Act 1992 (Cth).
  2. Section 31(1)(b) of the Radiocommunications Act.
  3. Green Paper, p.12.
  4. Green Paper, p.12.

For further information, please contact:

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