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VK3ZWI > IARU 03.09.00 12:56l 219 Lines 10764 Bytes #999 (999) @ WW
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Subj: Opening address by ACA
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From: VK3ZWI@VK3FRS.#MEL.VIC.AUS.OC
To : IARUR3@WW
IARU RIII Conference - Darwin
-------------------------------
Opening address by Australian Communications Authority (ACA) Executive Manager
, Radiofrequency Planning Group, Barry Matson.
I have been asked to talk to you about how I see the future of Amateur Radio.
In short, I am highly optimistic because, although I can see big challenges
ahead, I am personally confident that the amateur community can overcome them.
The ACA or Government view, which I think could be summed up as being that
"Amateurs must compete in the sense that they continue to justify, in the
prevailing market environment, the resources that they are consuming."
The ACA is the independent regulator that has to manage a natural resource.
In terms of various users of the radio spectrum, it will be the survival of
the fittest.
For the Amateur Service, the key factors are:
. Continued access to spectrum
. Maintaining the relevance of amateur radio
I do not believe that amateurs can afford to let themselves become curators of
historically interesting equipment or techniques.
The amateur community needs to appreciate where it stands in relation to other
spectrum users. The usage of the radio spectrum has changed so much during the
last 20 years that the long cherished reasons for government support of the
amateur radio hobby are, quite frankly, no longer convincing.
Cordless applications in telecommunications, the proliferation of satellite
services, and heavy dependence of business, transport and the military on new
radio communications and navigation devices means that spectrum has become a
scarce and extremely valuable commodity.
Auctions of UHF spectrum suitable for mobile phones are topping up the
treasuries of many Governments, and this is focussing attention on the
importance of efficient usage of this valuable resource. Even long established
Defence applications are being pushed out in favour of new telecommunications
services.
To put a rhetorical question: If national security ranks a second priority to
telecommunications, then where does that leave amateur radio?
Don't panic just yet. There are some options for addressing my alarming
rhetorical question - Think of it as a strategic plan that might start like
this:
Strategic assumptions:
1. Access to sufficient appropriate frequency spectrum is essential if Amateur
Radio is to survive;
2. Pressure on governments to 'recover' spectrum from Amateurs will increase to where it will become irresistible on some bands within a few years;
3. Other non-profitable (in a money sense) spectrum users face the same challenge; and
4. The same issues exist in all amateur radio countries.
Strategic Plan Options
Option 1. Form strategic compatible partnerships, sharing strengths
This strategy recognises that it is possible to share spectrum between
different services without either party suffering serious interference, and
that this makes the combined usage more efficient and therefore defensible.
- some additional assumptions
* Defence needs huge amounts of spectrum in time of war, or during exercises,
but does not make use of much of it the rest of the time;
* Amateur privileges are likely to cease in time of war;
* many amateurs will join the defence services, and their experience on the
same bands would be valuable;
* Amateur operators (compared to commercial) are more capable of coping with
occasional interference from peacetime defence operations;
* Defence must learn to operate in a crowded spectrum to cope with electronic
warfare, and so may even welcome the realism of amateur interference on some
bands;
* Amateurs are good at political lobbying to protect their spectrum assets and
defence has the moral strength of protecting national security.
These assumptions lead to the conclusion that amateur radio and Defence are
natural partners.
An important aspect of being a professional radio user of the 21st century is
to learn how to operate within tight spectrum sharing agreements, and also how
to conduct oneself when interference does occur. Amateurs should not be denied
experience of this aspect of modern radiocommunications.
This sharing is already happening on the UHF Amateur band. Defence is the
primary user of 420 to 450 MHz. However, even on these bands there is likely
to be some nibbling by commercial or state government entities who know how
much money can be derived there from trunked mobile radio services. You must
keep in mind that the primary user, Defence, will have the most say about
prospective release of the band to telecommunications or trunking, and if the
military users feel that they can do without it, the rug is likely to
disappear from under the amateurs.
Sometimes new technology will permit spectrum sharing without interference. A
prime example is digital trunked radio systems. In fact, with all government
and commercial mobile radio systems expected to move to trunking over the next
decade, it seems likely that amateurs will soon be preserving an obsolete
technology if they don't do likewise. So perhaps the best way to preserve your
UHF mobile and hand-held spectrum access would be to negotiate for talk groups
on a government or commercial trunking system. A powerful negotiating point
would be if you are already a secondary user of a band that is being turned
over to trunking.
Option 2. Fight to retain at least some exclusive use where you have it now
This option acknowledges the inevitable encroachment of amateur spectrum in
the future but tries to contain it in the critical zones to an amount
sufficient for realistic Australian needs.
You would ask yourself questions like.
. How much spectrum do I really need on this band to operate effectively?
. Do I need it all of the time?
. How much interference can I tolerate?
. Could I share with another user who is already there?
. Could we find a new sharing partner to go in with?
. What is the extent of commercial demand?
. Are there pressures on the Government to auction it?
. What is the situation in other countries?
. What are the licensing arrangements on this band?
. How much would it cost to licence enough channels for Amateur Radio?
. How could these fees be funded?
Sure, these are tough questions, but that is the real world of
radiocommunications today, and after all, one of cherished the aims of the
hobby is to help people to learn to operate in the real radio world.
You may feel that you already have a licence for these bands, so why am I
suggesting that you licence spectrum. The amateur licence fee is in fact a
very generous concession by the government in relation to the amount of
spectrum it gives access to and compared with the fees paid by commercial and
government users.
My group in the ACA develops licensing policy, and I feel confident that we
could negotiate a deal in which amateur radio purchased a system licence for
a particular band.
These licences may give exclusive, primary or secondary access to qualified
amateurs and associated rights for protection. I understand that this strategy
poses considerable challenges to the amateur community in raising funds and
controlling access to those who have contributed payment to use the subject
channels. I assume that you are up to this challenge.
Problem:
How do we improve the profile of amateur radio with government, other spectrum
users, and potential amateur operators.
This must be a major concern to Amateur Radio governing bodies and I would
like to promote a strategy that I have copied from an FCC colleague, Dale
Hatfield (W0IFO) and I urge you to check out his speech - which may be found
at:
http:www.fcc.gov.Speeches/misc/dnh061700.html
Strategic Assumptions
* There are sound economic reasons for radio communications design to head in
the direction of common hardware platforms employing digital signal
processors and smart software which can be upgraded and changed at will;
* Ever more spectrum efficient Digital methods of radio transmission are
essential and inevitable;
* Many potential radio amateurs are being lured away from the hobby by their
fascination with computers;
* Component miniaturisation is making realistic hardware-based experimentation
very difficult to do at home;
* Truly advanced radiocommunications experimentation in software is practical
to do from the home;
Strategy
The Americans call it the Software Defined Radio, and they are moving in this
direction in a very big way. This radio will in some ways resemble a PC,
having different plug-ins for each peripheral. These plug-ins might be
front-ends for different spectrum bands, or outputs for listening, watching
or hard copy, and a PC for programming. At the heart will be a DSP array
controlled by an open operating system. Software capable of decoding and
de-multiplexing complex, high bits/MHz transmission modes will run on this
operating system.
With systems like this in their shack, amateurs will all be truly able to
participate at a professional level in state-of-the-art radio experimentation.
Instead of salvaging obsolete left-overs amateurs with a low budget can move
up to the real thing.
Governments and industry will see amateurs making a valid contribution to the
development of spectrum efficient radio technology and using the resources
that they have wisely.
This strategy will be hard for most because it confronts amateurs with the
same stark technical educational challenges that have been faced for some
years now by engineers and scientists in this field. However, it is the only
strategy that could lead to a future golden age of amateur radio.
I would like to leave you with the sombre thought that it is neither the
Internet, digitalisation, or miniaturisation that is creating the greatest
challenge to the future of amateur radio. Instead, I believe that the real
challenges are:
* continued access to appropriate frequency bands;
* remaining relevant in what is now an extremely complex technical field; and
* the need to confront big business in a sophisticated way.
Finally, on behalf of the ACA and the Federal Government, I would like to
thank the IARU and WIA for the strong support they have given to sensible
proposals at the recent World Radio Conference. I would also like to express
our thanks and admiration to Sydney amateurs for agreeing to temporarily
surrender their UHF spectrum to Games organisers during the Olympics. These
are fine examples of the kind of cooperation that will help preserve this
great hobby of amateur radio.
(IARU RIII Conference Media Officer, Jim Linton VK3PC)
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