Well, the legislative framework for the introduction of digital radio into Australia was passed on Thursday 10 May 2007 nearly 84 years after the first licensed radio broadcasts in Australia.

However, this momentous day in the history of broadcasting almost went unnoticed by the popular press.

The Australian published a small article noting legislation to roll-out digital radio across Australia has passed parliament, despite concerns listeners in rural communities might miss out. The article summarised the law with the rollout in the state capitals by January 1, 2009, and covers the licensing, planning and regulation of the new generation of radio.  The first services will use the European Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) standard, the most widely used system internationally and for which a wide range of reasonably priced receivers is available.

The article also reported that Labor expressed concerns about the digital platform’s ability to reach rural areas.

Even the Minister, Senator Helen Coonan, devoted a media release earlier that day to attacking the Opposition on their attempts to defer the legislation until trials of another platform, Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM), were complete.

Two days earlier, the Minister had announced Government funding for the national (ABC and SBS) and community broadcasting sectors.

The Parliamentary Library published an analysis of the Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Digital Radio) Bill 2007 in March 2007 which provides an excellent background to the legislation.

The framework for the introduction of digital radio had been announced on 14 October 2005 by the Minister. Under the framework, potential to deliver a range of new and innovative services to listeners such as record and rewind, streamed text with news and weather updates, play list information and even still pictures. digital radio being a supplement to existing services in Australia rather a replacement technology, as it is in television.”

Therefore there will be a staged rollout of digital radio in Australia commencing in metropolitan areas as soon as practicable.

Under the framework, Australia will implement terrestrial digital radio based upon European Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) Standards, also known as Eureka 147.

The commercial, national and wide-coverage community broadcasters currently operating in the broadcasting services bands (BSB) in those areas will have the opportunity to participate and will share the available digital spectrum.

“Consistent with the Government’s 2004 election commitment, there will be a moratorium on the allocation of new BSB commercial radio licences, this moratorium will be for six years from the commencement of the first digital broadcasts

Other elements of the framework include dedicated spectrum for the two national broadcasters, a guaranteed minimum level of broadcast capacity to incumbent commercial broadcasters (more spectrum will be available if new services are offered), guaranteed access to the digital platform for wide-area community broadcasters, no simulcast requirement and a first right of refusal to broadcasters to control the multiplex and hold relevant spectrum for a nominal administration cost.

DIGITAL RADIO POLICY FRAMEWORK

General

• Digital radio will supplement existing analogue radio services for a considerable period and may never be a complete replacement.
• Planning for the introduction of terrestrial digital radio will initially focus on providing the spectrum to enable existing licence area planned state capital commercial, national and wide-coverage community broadcasters to commence digital radio services.
• Planning for the introduction of digital radio for e xisting licence area planned commercial broadcasters in other areas will be considered subsequently and on the basis of broadcaster interest in delivering digital services in the relevant licence area.
• Planning for the introduction of digital radio for e xisting licence area planned wide-coverage community and national broadcaster services in other areas will be considered at a later stage.
• Those categories of Broadcasting Services Bands (BSB) broadcasters not party to the initial planning process, including narrowcasters and localised community broadcasters, will be considered at a later stage.
• The provision of non-BSB digital radio services by operators of non-BSB delivered services, including section 40 licensees, will continue to be a commercial decision for relevant operators. The Government will continue to consider options for these broadcasters to deliver digital radio services outside the BSB.

Technology choice and spectrum requirements

• Eureka 147 will be the primary technology platform for BSB digital radio. However, it is a mature technology and international standards bodies are now considering newer versions, with more advanced compression standards, that will enable more efficient spectrum use. The Government will give further consideration to the feasibility of adopting these later standards.
• Eureka 147 is unlikely to be a suitable platform to address the extended coverage requirements of some regional and remote services. The Government will continue to monitor developments with digital radio technologies, including Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM), to determine what supplementary platforms might be appropriate to address regional and remote coverage issues.
• The Government considers that technical trials of digital radio technologies, including DRM, need to be undertaken to determine which technologies or combination of technologies will best serve people living in regional and remote Australia.
• Subject to further technical advice, it is expected that where possible VHF Band III spectrum will be used for primary digital radio transmitters of commercial, wide-coverage community and national broadcasting services.
  L Band is expected to be used for infill, localised services and where VHF Band III spectrum is unavailable, or insufficient.
• L-Band spectrum planning will include reservation of capacity for potential satellite digital radio services.
• Significant spectrum limitations currently exist for the introduction of digital radio in key markets (including major metropolitan and adjacent areas). The Government will consider releasing additional spectrum for new digital radio services in relevant markets following the closure of analogue television services, subject to demand and other competing uses for the spectrum.
• The Government will ask the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to give priority to reserving adequate VHF Band III spectrum for digital radio purposes when planning new digital television services, unless there are clear technical or consumer interests in the use of that spectrum for television.

Market structure

• A moratorium will be introduced on the issue of new BSB commercial digital radio licences for a period of six years following the commencement of digital radio services in state capital markets. This moratorium will be subject to:
• • the conditions set out in Australian Broadcasting Authority (Revisiting Radio LAPs) Direction No. 1 of 2003. This Direction is designed to allow for the issuing of a new licence by ACMA in circumstances where a change of ownership results in a reduction in the number of radio services of general appeal in the market; and
  • the commercial broadcasters in the licence area complying with the digital implementation framework, including the rollout and coverage requirements (refer to paragraphs 29 and 30).

Content regulation

• Digital radio services will be subject to existing content regulation arrangements administered by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) applying to analogue radio services (including codes of practice, standards and licence conditions).
• There will be no requirement on broadcasters to simulcast their analogue service in digital.
• Subject to content regulation arrangements outlined in paragraph 15, there will be no limitations on types of additional radio or data services that can be broadcast.
• A new licence category will be established to enable non-radio broadcasters to make use of the digital radio platform to deliver non-radio services.

Multiplex operation and access

• Incumbent commercial and, if they choose, wide-coverage community broadcasters, in a licence area will have first right of refusal to elect to jointly (by way of a separate joint venture company) manage the operations of the multiplex ensembles and hold the associated spectrum licences, to be used for their services in that market, subject to meeting specific regulatory requirements regarding the transparency and openness of the joint venture operation. If they so elect, spectrum licences will be allocated for an administrative charge only.
• Where a valid election is not made in a licence area, the Government, by default, may allocate transmission licences to operate digital radio multiplex ensembles.
• Access rules will be established to assure commercial radio broadcasters and the wide-coverage community radio sector of access to minimum levels of capacity on multiplex ensembles, on published and non-discriminatory terms.
• C ommercial broadcasters will have minimum rights to acquire 128 kbps of multiplex capacity with the ability to acquire additional capacity (capped at 256 kbps and subject to bit rate availability limits in each market) on the condition that this is used to deliver new services.
• Jointly, wide-coverage community broadcasters in any market will have access rights to 128 kbps per analogue service (up to a maximum of 256 kbps per available multiplex) on the basis that they collectively determine how this is to be shared .
• Persons licensed to offer non-radio services will also have the right to acquire unreserved capacity on a multiplex to a maximum of 128 kbps, on published and non-discriminatory terms.
• Provision will be made for regulatory intervention by the ACCC to manage multiplex access, including to address access disputes and anti-competitive conduct.
• Spectrum allocation and licensing arrangements will continue to be managed by ACMA.
• Spectrum will be reserved for the national broadcasters equivalent to one multiplex ensemble with appropriate transmission licences to enable them to jointly manage single multiplex ensembles in each state capital and subsequently other markets. The role and timing of national broadcaster involvement in digital radio will be considered further in the context of normal budget processes.

Assistance for regional commercial broadcasters

Depending on the success of rollout in state capital areas, the Government will consider providing some capped financial assistance for the capital costs associated with rollout of digital transmission facilities by commercial broadcasters in regional areas.

Coverage and rollout requirements

• In the case of state capitals, existing licence area planned commercial digital radio licensees will be required to commence permanent broadcasts within a specified, legislated period and provide equivalent digital coverage to their existing analogue services by the end of the six year moratorium period.
• In other areas, where existing licence area planned commercial digital radio licensees are given access to additional broadcasting spectrum for digital radio services, they will be required to commence permanent broadcasts within a specified period and meet coverage and rollout commitments appropriate to such markets.

On 20 December 2004, the Minister announced a consultation process for the development of a policy and regulatory framework for the introduction of digital radio in Australia.

“Digital radio presents an opportunity to substantially improve the quality and range of services enjoyed daily by millions of Australian radio listeners,” Senator Coonan said.

“Digital transmission systems offer a range of potential improvements over their analog counterparts, including better audio quality and the provision of a more diverse range of new enhanced radio services.”

Further work is required on a range of technical and other issues before the full policy framework for digital implementation can be determined, but the Government expects to be in a position to elaborate on the framework within 12 months.

The Government has agreed to a moratorium on new Licence Area Planned (LAP) commercial digital radio licences for an initial period of five years. The moratorium will commence once technology and spectrum issues are resolved and a timetable for roll out of digital services determined.

“The moratorium recognises the important contribution incumbent commercial broadcasters will make in the digital future and provide them some stability in the early stages of the introduction of digital radio,” Senator Coonan said.

The Government has released the report of the Digital Radio Study Group (DRSG) and an issues paper inviting submissions from interested parties on specific issues associated with the introduction of digital radio. The Government has also adopted a set of broad policy principles (see attached) to guide its consideration of digital radio issues.

At the same time further work will be undertaken by the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) and the Australian Communications Authority (ACA) on the availability of VHF and L-Band spectrum, including in major metropolitan areas. This will allow a more detailed understanding of the number and characteristics of the digital services that could be made available in the short to medium term.

The ABA and ACA will also conduct additional technical research, in consultation with the radio industry, on:

•  a hybrid VHF/L-Band model for spectrum planning, which would involve the latter band being used for infill or town-only purposes; and

•  L-Band propagation and building penetration characteristics and transmission site requirements.

This work will be a critical element in determining an implementation strategy for digital radio.

“Data emerging from the current industry trials of digital radio technology in Sydney and Melbourne , and future trials to be undertaken in regional markets, will provide valuable input to these issues and I look forward to the progressive release of information by trial operators,” Senator Coonan said.

Those with an interest in digital radio are strongly encouraged to make submissions on the policy issues associated with the introduction of digital radio in Australia .

The DRSG report, an issues paper to guide submissions and further information on the consultation process are available online at www.dcita.gov.au/broad/consultation .