Spectrum allocation for public protection and disaster relief radiocommunications services

The Government agencies involved in Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) have a growing demand for mobile communications, which is driven by the increasing complexity of their roles and the need for greater security and interoperability with other agencies, both locally and internationally. This demand has increased their need for radio spectrum which cannot be met from their current allocations.

A working group of the Government inter-agency Emergency Telecommunications Services Steering Group, addressing this issue has reported to the Ministry of Economic Development (MED) with a recommendation that the ESB (VHF, 138 - 144 MHz) and proposed ESC (UHF, 494 - 502 MHz) bands be allocated exclusively for emergency services use. The 494-502 MHz band is currently under a Ministerial Directive which places an embargo on the issue of any long-term licences. In releasing this band for long term PPDR use, consideration must also be given to arrangements to manage interference at the band boundaries and with adjacent radio frequency bands.

These issues were discussed in detail in a 2007 public consultation paper. Those responding confirmed as optimal, the current ESB and proposed ESC band allocations and the current method of assigning and managing the spectrum within the PPDR bands. The responses also raised issues over the technical compatibility between services in the ESC band and services in the adjacent spectrum.

Submissions can be found here and the Ministry's summary of submissions here.

The Ministry commissioned an independent report on the compatibility issues and is satisfied that interference between the ESC band and services in adjacent bands is manageble.

The Minister for Communications and Information Technology approved the allocation of the ESB and ESC bands to exclusive PPDR use in March 2008. The Ministerial Directive will be amended accordingly.