5. Licensing

New Zealand as a signatory to the ITU Constitution and Convention is obligated to issue Licences under provision 18.1 of the ITU Radio Regulations that states:

‘18.1 § 1 1) No transmitting station may be established or operated by a private person or by any enterprise without a licence issued in an appropriate form and in conformity with the provisions of these Regulations by or on behalf of the government of the country to which the station in question is subject…’

The licensing of transmitting stations in New Zealand is regulated under two regimes. In parts of the spectrum that have been transferred into Management Rights a Spectrum Licence is the authorising instrument.

In all other parts of the radio frequency spectrum, licences are granted under administrative processes. The authority for the MED to issue licences to transmitting stations, arises from enacting section 111(2) of the Radiocommunications Act 1989 as amended.

There are three possibilities for Administrative licensing:

• a radio licence granted under Section 8 of the Radiocommunications Regulations which takes the form of a individual station licence;
• a General User Licence granted under Part 9 of the Regulations which covers all stations within the technical description on the licence; and
• an exemption to licensing granted under Part 10 of the Regulations.¹⁹

Footnote