The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) prepares for high-band 5G spectrum awards.
Background: ACMA has published a five-year spectrum outlook every year since 2009. The outlook is a policy tool to decide and review the approach to spectrum management, and the forward plan for spectrum allocations. Since 2018, a draft outlook is subject to public consultation before the final one is published.
The 2019 outlook: On 2 April, ACMA released the draft outlook for the years 2019–2023. One of its highlights is the allocation plan for the next two years, which includes spectrum in the 850/900MHz, 1.5GHz, 3.4–3.6GHz, 26GHz, and 28GHz. Since 2019 is a World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) year, ACMA is also monitoring domestic and international developments in the 600MHz, 3.3GHz, 4.5GHz, and 4.8GHz bands to identify usage trends ahead of the WRC in October–November 2019. On the IoT front, ACMA is currently working on facilitating early access to the 928–935MHz band for low-power wide-area IoT applications.
Next steps: The draft plan is subject to consultation until 16 May 2019. In parallel, ACMA is consulting until 17 May 2019 on planning options for the 28GHz band. The regulator also announced it will consider applications for ‘scientific licences’ in the 26GHz band; applicants must complete a trial of 5G mmWave technology before the intended allocation of the 26GHz band, which may take place in the second half of 2020.
