6. Interim New Zealand Strategy

A number of technical studies on UWB are currently taking place worldwide, especially within ITU-R TG 1/8, and regulatory developments for UWB are still being finalised. This is to ensure that UWB devices can co-exist and are compatible with existing services such as GPS, satellite services and 3G cellular. More definitive regulatory decisions will be considered by the Ministry once ITU-R TG 1/8 standards and compatibility studies are more mature, which is likely to be near the end of 2005.

In the interim, to enable New Zealand companies to take advantage of the benefits offered by UWB, the Ministry is considering to grant interim radio licences for UWB applications with low potential to cause interference on a case-by-case basis. This is in line with the approach currently undertaken by Australia.

Issue 6.a

The Ministry invites comments on the strategy of creating interim licences for UWB applications with low potential to cause interference on a case-by-case basis until international standards and compatibility studies are more mature.