Gary Humphries (ACT, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Materiel) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

sked the Minister representing the Attorney-General, upon notice, on 8 November 2011:

In regard to the spectrum for public safety agencies:

(1) What advice has the department received on the feasibility of providing the 800MHz band to public safety agencies instead of the 700MHz band and can a copy of this advice be provided; if not, why not.

(2) How will the 850-870 portion of the 800MHz band be cleared of the current tens of thousands of narrowband users and over what timeframe.

(3) Why do the terms of reference of the Government's Public Safety Mobile Broadband Steering Committee not allow it to consider both the 700MHz and 800MHz spectrum for public safety before it reports in the first half of 2012.

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Attorney-General has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) The Attorney-General's Department has actively participated in the Public Safety Mobile Broadband Steering Committee, which has been tasked with providing an implementation plan and business model for a nationally interoperable mobile broadband capability for public safety agencies, and the potential for a possible allocation of spectrum from the 800 MHz band in this regard.

Information on the suitability of 800 MHz band spectrum in support of deploying this capability has been provided to the Steering Committee by the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE), the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and the consulting firm engaged by the Steering Committee, Gibson Quai-AAS. A Fact Sheet prepared on this topic by DBCDE is available from:

http://www.dbcde.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/139120/Fact_sheet_3-700_MHz_v_800_MHzSuitability_for_Australian_public_safety_use.pdf.

(2) The Attorney-General's Department does not have portfolio responsibility for spectrum allocation and/or management. A Fact Sheet prepared on this topic by DBCDE is available from:

http://www.dbcde.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/139128/Fact_sheet_7-800_MHz_band_spectrum-review_and_allocation_process.pdf.

(3) The terms of reference for the multijurisdictional Public Safety Mobile Broadband Steering Committee allow for consideration of both the 700 MHz and 800 MHz spectrum for public safety agencies and its report to the Standing Council on Police and Emergency Management will include consideration of this issue.