Executive Brief

In December 2004 the Ministry of Economic Development issued An Engineering Discussion Paper on Spectrum Allocations for Studio to Transmitter Links (STLs) in support of radio broadcasting. The discussion paper invited submissions on a range of issues which could contribute to better spectrum utilisation by STLs. This was followed in July 2005 by a Summary of Submissions paper which identified some issues that required further study.

This further study has enabled draft frequency band arrangements to be developed. This paper provides the background to the proposed draft frequency band arrangements and invites submissions from interested parties on key questions.

To accommodate the anticipated growth in broadcast stations and the need to share spectrum with new services including Short Range Devices (SRD) the draft frequency band arrangements propose to:

• Optimise current assignments by only renewing licences which are in use and migrating narrow band mono licences from 900 MHz to 400 MHz where appropriate;
• Introduce new engineering guidelines for digital STLs to maximise the spectrum benefits available from the new technology;
• Encourage the use of alternative solutions where STL licences are no longer available due to congestion in the bands;
• Allocate an additional 6 MHz of spectrum for STL licences;
• Require all licences in the additional 6 MHz spectrum to use spectrum efficient digital technologies;
• Facilitate the introduction of higher powered SRDs by providing a mechanism for existing STL licences operating in the 915 to 921 MHz band to migrate to alternate radio frequency bands.