A vision for Australia’s digital future
1. WHAT
What is AMTA’s vision for the future?
Vision: For Australia to enjoy the substantial economic, social and environmental benefits that full participation in the digital economy can deliver.
2. WHY
Why is this important?
Broadband is the platform for the future.
Broadband digital communications are today what electricity was a century ago to our Edwardian forebears. And they are at about the same stage of development. The farsighted Edwardians knew that electricity in the home would go beyond just domestic lighting to be a major power source for new devices, applications and services. Even so, the extent to which electricity would be ubiquitous today and the revolutionary impact it has had on all aspects of our lives was unimagined. But even within a few years, those countries that had adopted early and built national core and access networks led in innovation. They pioneered the new growth sectors that became the motors of economic prosperity. The latest generation of fixed and mobile broadband technologies provide the platform for Australia to participate in the global digital economy. Infrastructure investment in these key nation-building assets will ensure Australia can continue to enjoy the economic, social and environmental benefits that such technology can bring.
The role of mobile
Fixed and mobile broadband are complementary services. Both are critical in meeting the nation’s demand for broadband services. The mobile sector’s contribution is significant: Economic o o o Social o Provided a consumer surplus of $3288 million in 2007-8 (over 10 times higher than consumer surplus attributed to Internet services). Applications include: Connecting remote communities; Enabling remote medical diagnosis; Delivering educational benefits; Assisting with criminal investigations; and Facilitating social networking (socially and professionally).
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Contributed $14.2 billion (0.62 % of GDP) to the Australian Economy in 2007; Predicted to contribute a further $2.1 billion by 2010; and Substantial productivity gains as a key enabling technology – e.g. 25% productivity gains enjoyed from using applications on 3G phones.
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Environmental o Telecommunications networks are part of a low carbon future and are predicted to reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by almost 5% by 2015 or 27 million tonnes per year. For example, it is predicted that 10.1 million tonnes (Mt) can be saved by increasing renewable energy use with networked demand side management; 1.8 Mt by using broadband to remotely manage power for appliances not in use or on "stand-by"; 3.0Mt with presence-detecting services that turn off devices that are "on" but not being used.
Demand
Demand for mobile services is substantial and growing exponentially, including for machine-tomachine communications: o Globally: Mobile broadband is predicted to comprise two-thirds of all broadband subscriptions by 2012; and Users of mobile broadband services will grow from 181 million in 2008 to over two billion in 2014, a growth of 1024%. At the same time, the M2M* market will grow by 650%. o Locally: 97% of Australians use their mobile for more than just voice; 73% of Australian businesses plan to increase the number of smart phones used and 67% plan to increase the number of wireless data cards used to increase employee effectiveness and productivity; and In 2008/09 mobile broadband subscriptions increased by over 100%. Sophisticated models developed by the International Telecommunications Union forecast demand for spectrum for mobile telecommunications will continue to exceed current allocations globally as well as in the Australian context.
What is required to meet the demand?
Radiofrequency spectrum is the critical enabling infrastructure for the deployment of mobile telecommunications services including mobile broadband. To even come close to meeting predicted demand, industry needs to: Retain existing spectrum; and Gain access to new spectrum in the 700MHz (the ‘Digital Dividend’) and 2.5GHz bands to allow for the ongoing rapid growth of mobile broadband services and the roll-out of next generation mobile broadband services such as Long Term Evolution (LTE).
Can and should this new spectrum be made available for mobile use?
700MHz band Analogue TV services, operating in the 700MHz band, cease on 31 December 2013. Substantially less spectrum is required to deliver the same TV services digitally. Work by Broadcast Australia indicates that it is possible to restack all existing broadcasting services and achieve a Digital Dividend in the order of 126MHz. An allocation of 126MHz of usable spectrum in the 700MHz band for mobile broadband development is predicted to contribute $10billion to the Australian economy over 20 years.
*M2M can refer to machine to machine, man to machine and machine to man 2
2.5GHz band The 2.5GHz band has been internationally identified for use by mobile technologies. The incumbent users of the 2.5GHz band can be appropriately accommodated elsewhere. (2.5GHz is one of the bands used by the broadcasting industry for electronic news gathering.) It is important that Australia harmonise with international markets in order to obtain access to technologies and equipment at an affordable price. The 2.5GHz band is also critical because it is the only globally harmonised band that can support mobile broadband roaming.
3. HOW
How can the vision be achieved? To enable the mobile sector to continue to meet the growing demand, Government needs to provide: i) Certainty over the re-issue of incumbent spectrum licences for the spectrum held by AMTA member companies;
ii) Access to new spectrum, in the 700MHz (the ‘Digital Dividend’) and 2.5GHz bands, to allow for the ongoing rapid growth of mobile broadband services and the roll-out of next generation mobile broadband services such as Long Term Evolution (LTE); iii) Spectrum allocation principles that are harmonised with larger markets to ensure Australia benefits from economies of scale; and iv) An ongoing stable, predictable and minimally intrusive regulatory regime.
4. WHEN
Licence re-issue Mobile operators are ready to invest in the next generation of mobile networks but need certainty about the continued availability of spectrum. Operational business planning decisions require capital to be secured a number of years prior to its expenditure. The first of the 15 year licences expires in 2013. Business planning requires certainty now. Digital Dividend AMTA supports Broadcast Australia’s view that it is imperative to make a policy decision about the quantity of Digital Dividend as soon as possible to ensure that appropriate planning for restacking can be well advanced by the end of 2009. The longer decisions on the quantity and use of the Digital Dividend are delayed the larger the gap between analogue switch off; completion of restack planning and the availability of new Digital Dividend services. 2.5GHz band The 2.5GHz band has been internationally identified for mobile technology use. AMTA urges the Government to finalise a priority timetable to re-locate the 2.5GHz incumbent users and make the band available for the next generation of mobile telecommunications before the end of 2009.
Contacts:
Chris Althaus, Chief Executive: chris.althaus@amta.org.au, ph: 02 6239 6555 Peppi Wilson, Manager, Policy: peppi.wilson@amta.org.au, ph: 02 6239 6555
References available on request 3