Communications Alliance Welcomes Government’s response to the Spectrum Review

Sydney, 25 August 2015 – The telecommunications industry welcomed the Government’s announcement today that it will implement the recommendations of the Spectrum Review. The Communications Alliance CEO, John Stanton, said industry agreed that significant and forward-looking reform of spectrum policy and process is needed to reduce the regulatory burden on spectrum users by making interactions with the framework, including allocation processes, more flexible, simpler and faster. He welcomed the decision by the Minister for Communications, the Hon. Malcolm Turnbull, to implement the three main recommendations of the review.

  1. Replace the current legislative arrangements with new legislation that removes prescriptive process and streamlines licensing, for a simpler and more flexible framework.
  2. Better integrate the management of public sector and broadcasting spectrum to improve the consistency and integrity of the framework.
  3. Review spectrum pricing to ensure consistent and transparent arrangements to support the efficient use of spectrum and secondary markets.

“Communications Alliance and it members look forward to working with Government on the detail and implementation of the reform agenda, to help ensure that the new framework can be rolled out from mid-2017,” Mr Stanton said.

ABOUT COMMUNICATIONS ALLIANCE

Communications Alliance is the primary telecommunications industry body in Australia. Its membership is drawn from a wide cross-section of the communications industry, including carriers, carriage and internet service providers, content providers, search engines, equipment vendors, IT companies, consultants and business groups.

Its vision is to provide a unified voice for the telecommunications industry and to lead it into the next generation of converging networks, technologies and services. The prime mission of Communications Alliance is to promote the growth of the Australian communications industry and the protection of consumer interests by fostering the highest standards of business ethics and behaviour through industry self-governance. For more details about Communications Alliance, see www.commsalliance.com.au

Media information contacts:

Communications Alliance
Lucy Chamberlain
lchamberlain@kreab.com
0402 106 613