Senator Richard Alston, Australia’s Minister for Communications, has finalized the Federal Government’s blueprint for the introduction of digital broadcasting services in the year 2001, and existing free to air networks (FTAs) have emerged as the winners. The networks have won the right to simulcast their analog signal and new digital signal for eight years. Digital spectrum to the tune of 7MHz will be lent to them, free of charge, for this period of time, after which the networks will be required to hand back an equivalent amount of spectrum to the Government. In a further victory for the networks, the Government will also allow them to use any un-utilized spectrum for data- casting services, for which they will be charged a yet-to-be- determined fee. The fee regime, which will be put in place following a report from the Australian Communications Authority, said Alston, will ensure that there is a level playing field between FTA and non-FTA data-casting providers.
By Dorothy Kennedy
Other communications companies, such as newspaper groups and Internet service providers, will have the chance to bid for any unused blocks of broadcasting spectrum. Networks will be barred from bidding for these. In the weeks leading up to yesterday’s decision, Senator Alston has been subject to intense lobbying from the networks on one side, and a coalition of ISPs, communications groups and newspaper publishers on the other. The networks were pushing for an extended period of free digital access, while the communications groups were trying to protect their data services market from disappearing under the weight of powerful concerns such as Kerry Packer’s Nine Network. Both Nine and Seven have online ventures with Microsoft Corp and Intel Corp respectively. Criticism for Alston’s regime was not long in coming. The Australian Information Industry Association found fault with the Government for not specifying which data-casting services the FTA broadcasters could provide, and not having its fee regime in place. And The Australian Financial Review carried a scathing editorial entitled Information age mockery, in which it accuses the Government of fostering an anti-competitive environment.
