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- 8.1 Has the NESTF met its objectives
- 8.2 Is the NESTF still fit for purpose
8 ConclusionsThe Resource Management (National Environmental Standards for Telecommunication Facilities) Regulations 2008 is just one regulatory instrument in a wide range of regulatory requirements controlling the installation and operation of telecommunications infrastructure. This outcome evaluation suggests that it has largely achieved what it set out to do. It is an example of circumstances where a national environmental standard can be effective. In this case it has a very narrow scope, covering issues where there is little local variation to take into account. Telecommunications technology is the same around the country as are radio-frequency effects. The evaluation also highlighted the limitations of the tool. The regulations require maintenance so they remain fit for purpose, and whether they require maintenance requires an ongoing environmental scan.
The NESTF has been successful in reducing timeframes, and compliance costs, for mobile providers. Industry estimates that $3.2 million in direct costs have been saved, and that over $10 million may be saved over the duration of the 4G roll-out. While it has created intangible benefits for fixed-line operators (and these benefits are deemed to be worthwhile) tangible benefits are only just starting to be realised. The NESTF has been successful in reducing the timeframe, and lowering costs, for the availability of new services to consumers in the mobile market. Industry considers that entry of the third mobile provider, 2degrees, was accelerated because of the NESTF. This has increased competition in the sector. The impact of the NESTF on fixed-line services is unclear. It increased cabinet installation costs for the 2009/10 Fibre To The Node project due to the need for more resource consents and the need for information provision. However, costs are decreasing for Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) cabinets as councils and operators become more confident with the NESTF provisions. Resource Management Act 1991related processes will not have affected the speed or cost of rolling out the fibre itself. This is a corridor management issue, which involves a complex interaction of factors. Generally, the NESTF has reduced workload for single processes such as permitting cabinets. In terms of reducing overall workload (which was not the objective, but which may have been the more relevant metric) the picture is mixed, and the change in council workload since the NESTF was introduced varies. For many councils, telecommunications did not generate much work either before or after the NESTF was introduced. At the other extreme, Auckland Council has the critical mass for a specialist Major Infrastructure Unit, which augments the efficiencies of the NESTF. We found that total workload was a function of whether: the roll-out was occurring in the council area it was UFB or mobile (because the majority of mobile infrastructure is installed outside of the road reserve) the operator requests certificates of compliance (not all do, especially for cabinets) the council requires information packs for permitted activities such as cabinet installation, and how many radio-frequency reports and other correspondence they had to handle. What was clear is that it is tricky for central government to predict the effect of even a minor regulation such as this NESTF on individual councils. Whether an appropriate balance has been reached between local participation in community planning and cost-effective national infrastructure depends on one’s perspective. Industry thinks that it has. Local interests are addressed by the provisions of Regulation 6 and, when an activity is not permitted by the NESTF, by the rules in the district plan. These take local interests into account. The majority of councils also believe that a balance has been struck, although there is a significant minority who don’t know. Two of the three councils who did not think that a balance has been struck were concerned that there was not enough interaction with council, so that sometimes facilities were not sited in the best place. Operators should engage with their communities, whose concerns include fears that the infrastructure will block their view, will affect their health (particularly their children’s health) and/or reduce property values. This evaluation did not assess whether the NESTF has had an impact on property values. It did explore whether the safety limits placed on radio-frequency emitting devices are still relevant, and expert advice suggests they are. Further, an intergovernmental committee on the health effects of non-ionising radiation meets every six months and has a watching brief to appraise all new research in this area. For some community members, however, these safeguards are insufficient, and the issue of health effects of radio-frequency is real and pressing. 8.2 Is the NESTF still fit for purpose?There are signs that a gap is emerging between the NESTF and technology developments in telecommunications. New antennas required for the 4G roll-out do not comply with the NESTF rules. There are some technical issues with the measurement of radio-frequency exposures for some of the newer equipment, with one solution requiring a change to the NESTF to resolve the issue. The low-impact focus of the NESTF may be having the perverse consequence of adding to the proliferation of antennas on towers because of height limits. The NESTF was designed to permit only ‘low-impact’ facilities (eg, a single antenna on a height-limited “replacement utility structure”). If replacement utility structures were made taller, they could house more infrastructure, resulting in fewer individual structures. Some communities may prefer this alternative, but at the moment it requires resource consent, while the NESTF creates the incentive to take the lower-impact, single-antenna-on-pole approach. Directory: sites -> default -> files -> media -> Extra%20downloads -> Source%20file media -> Butler County Tourism & Convention Bureau media -> Appendix 7 – Emergency Plan media -> Working Syllabus University Honors 201 Course Title: “Lost” Literature Course Abstract media -> Employment Claremont McKenna College media -> General information media -> Technicolor to debut new animated preschool series, chamelia, at cartoon forum and mip jr/mipcom media -> Military training network administrative handbook bls acls pals media -> Request for funding to the [insert the foundation/funder’s name] Download 244.21 Kb. Share with your friends:
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