Government seeks public safety mobile broadband network
The Australian government has asked how best to provide mobile broadband to public safety agencies by 2020.
The Australian government has asked how best to provide mobile broadband to public safety agencies by 2020.
Benefits from this month’s switch-on of 700MHz mobile networks could seem subtle to the average phone user, but will be important to enhancing coverage and data transmission going forward, according to telecom analysts.
Vodafone on Tuesday announced it had reallocated its low-band 850MHz mobile spectrum to boost 4G network coverage – particularly indoors – for 1.5 million of its existing customers.
Telstra has announced early access to its 700MHz 4G mobile network for Perth and other communities around Australia.
Darwin and Perth residents can get an early taste of 4G mobile broadband on 700 MHz spectrum after Optus turned on the network in each CBD.
Telstra has hit speeds of 235 Mbps in a test of 4G mobile broadband using 700MHz spectrum in Perth.
The government and mobile industry have supported an overhaul of Australian spectrum regulations to keep up with the rapid pace of technology.
The Coalition victory in the federal election could bode well for Australian police seeking a portion of the 700MHz spectrum that went unsold in the Digital Dividend auction.
In a win for police against the mobile industry, a parliamentary committee has recommended that public safety agencies receive a portion of unsold Digital Dividend spectrum in the 700MHz band.
The Police Federation of Australia believes the departure of communications minister Stephen Conroy bodes well for the police union’s effort to snag 20MHz of the unsold spectrum in the 700MHz band, said Police Federation CEO, Mark Burgess.
A skirmish has broken out between Australian police and the mobile industry over who should have mobile spectrum in the 700MHz band that went unsold in the recent Digital Dividend auction.
The chairman of the Australian Communications and Media Authority has said his agency’s “door remains open” after the Police Federation slammed the agency for its handling of wireless spectrum dedicated to public safety agencies.
Even if the price for spectrum in the 700MHz band had been set lower, Optus may still not have bought more than 10MHz of the 45MHz that was available in the Digital Dividend auction, according to Optus chief country officer, Kevin Russell.
Broadcasters and the mobile industry had different takeaways about the level of demand for spectrum in Australia after the government failed to sell all of the 700MHz spectrum in the Digital Dividend auction.
Malcolm Turnbull has slammed the Labor government for not raising more money in the Digital Dividend auction.