Spectrum Management for a Converging World: Case Study on Australia International Telecommunication Union
Spectrum uses and applications Licensing of the 2 GHz band (3G/IMT-2000)
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Spectrum uses and applicationsLicensing of the 2 GHz band (3G/IMT-2000)In March 2001, the ACA auctioned spectrum in the 2 GHz band. Although the licences auctioned were spectrum licences, and may therefore be used for any number of different technologies, the 2 GHz spectrum auction was designed and completed with the needs of 3G investors/suppliers in mind. Applications to participate in the auction to allocate licences to use the spectrum opened in early December 2000, once the Government and the ACA announced the reallocation of spectrum in the 2 GHz bands in anticipation of that spectrum being used for 3G services and that licences to use the spectrum would be awarded using the simultaneous ascending auction system. The Government imposed competition limits under which no bidder could acquire more than 25 per cent of the spectrum available in metropolitan areas and no more than 50 per cent of the spectrum available in regional areas. These limits were intended to allow a minimum of four licence holders (or competitors) in metropolitan areas and two in regional areas. The spectrum was divided into 58 lots. Table 5.1 shows, in chronological order, the history of consultation and key events involved in the development of the 2 GHz spectrum licences.
Source: ACA. The auction raised A$1.17 billion from 48 (of the 58) lots of spectrum sold to the following successful bidders: Telstra (A$302.02 million); Vodafone Pacific (A$253.55 million); Optus (A$248.87 million); Hutchison (A$196.10 million); 3G Investments/Qualcomm (A$159.00 million); CKW Wireless/ArrayComm (A$9.45 million) (see Figure 5.1). To put the Australian auction in perspective, the price paid by Telstra, for example, represented less than 10 per cent of that paid by comparable carriers in the United Kingdom and Germany and 25 per cent of the amounts paid in Italy and the Netherlands for 3G spectrum last year [11] (see Figure 5.2). Information on the status of deployment of 3G/IMT-2000 systems in Australia is provided in Box 5.1. Figure 5.1: Result of the 2 GHz Spectrum Auction (3G/IMT-2000) 
Note: The diagram identifies the successful bidders by band and by geographic area for each lot. The vertical band at the left of the figure identifies the market areas for the licences. Where bidders won contiguous spectrum lots these were combined to form licences. Because any spectrum lots not allocated in the auction may later be allocated by the ACA through other means, and licences may be traded by the successful bidders, the information in the figure above is not necessarily an accurate representation of current licence ownership in the band, which can be obtained from the Radiocommunications Licence Register. Source: ACA. Figure 5.2: Australian 3G/IMT-2000 auction compared with others 
Source: Optus. Box 5.1: IMT-2000 deployment in Australia Telstra Telstra currently operates a GSM network (all capital cities; some regional coverage) and a CDMA network (all capital cities; significant regional coverage). In late 2002 it upgraded its 800 MHz CDMA network to a CDMA 1xRTT capability. The service, marketed as 'Telstra Mobile Loop', was initially targeted at business users but is now trying to attract non-business (e.g. residential users). Service features include: real-time chat; multimedia messaging; on-line games; information services (e.g. sport, weather, directory, finance); email. Telstra has not yet revealed publicly its plans to roll-out a W-CDMA network. Hutchison Hutchison Telecommunications currently operates a (2G) CDMA network in major Australian capital cities. In March 2003, Hutchison, under the brand name '3', began offering its W-CDMA service. The '3' service is accompanied by a very aggressive marketing and pricing campaign. The full range of applications and services are available in the major capital cities of Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane, as well as Canberra and the Gold Coast. Key features of the 3 service include: video-on demand (including major sporting events); video-telephony; instant messaging; email retrieval; information services (e.g. finance, weather). Subscriber numbers are estimated to be close to 50,000. Vodafone Vodafone currently operates a GSM network in all Australian capital cities, and some regional areas. Although Vodafone purchased spectrum in the 2 GHz auctions, it has not revealed publicly any definite plans for rolling out its own IMT-2000 service, other than to suggest that it may offer IMT-2000 services by mid-2005. However, Vodafone is a member of the Personal Broadband Australia consortium (see below). Optus Optus currently operates a GSM network in all Australian capital cities, and some regional areas. Like the other incumbent 2G mobile carriers in Australia, it purchased spectrum in the 2 GHz auctions. Optus has been cautious in its public statements about its plans for rolling out an IMT-2000 network in Australia (Optus' parent company, SingTel is rolling out an IMT-2000 network in Singapore). However, Optus has been trialling a W-CDMA network in certain major capital cities without committing publicly to a timeframe for commercial deployment. CKW Wireless/Personal Broadband Australia CKW Wireless purchased 5 MHz of unpaired spectrum in the 2 GHz spectrum auctions. CKW Wireless has since formed a consortium with OzEmail (one of the largest Internet service providers in Australia), Crown Castle (which owns and maintains mobile infrastructure on behalf of mobile carriers), Vodafone, UTStarcom (manufacturer and supplier of IP switching solutions) and TCI (specialist project management group providing turnkey solutions to communications industries) to offer broadband mobile Internet access using the ArrayComm 'i-Burst' technology. The consortium, known as Personal Broadband Australia (PBBA) has completed a trial in Sydney involving more than 400 participants, who received unlimited wireless broadband access over 2-month time. PBBA has deployed for the trial six base stations providing network coverage of more than 100 km2 and reaching 1 million people. PBBA is working to begin commercial services with customers by end 2003. Source: APT IMT-2000 Forum, November 2003. Directory: osg -> spu spu -> Riefing Paper spu -> 3g mobile Policy: The Case of Sweden spu -> The case of ghana spu -> Contents : Introduction Part a the themes spu -> 3g mobile Licensing Policy spu -> Telecom network migration to ip and its impact on the future of telecommunications spu -> Colombia: ip telephony and the Internet spu -> Itu workshop on creating trust in critical network infrastructures spu -> Nternational Download 1.53 Mb. Share with your friends:
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