ACCC issues legislative instruments on digital radio access regime
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today issued legislative instruments— the Digital Radio Multiplex Transmitter Licences (Decision-Making Criteria) Determination 2008 and the Digital Radio Multiplex Transmitter Licences Procedural Rules 2008 in regard to the access regime that will apply to digital radio.
These instruments are legislative instruments for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 and will now be registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments and subject to a disallowance process.
Digital radio multiplex transmitter licences will be allocated by the Australian Communications and Media Authority to multiplex licensees, who will operate the digital radio transmission equipment in each licence area. Once these digital radio multiplex transmitter licences are allocated, the licensees must lodge—within three months—an access undertaking with the ACCC.
The access undertakings will specify the manner in which the multiplex licensees are to provide access to transmission capacity to individual digital radio broadcasters in each licence area.
"The ACCC will have an ongoing role in overseeing the access regime, including any subsequent variations of undertakings," ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today. "The ACCC will be responsible for assessing the access undertakings submitted by the licensees. The ACCC has made these legislative instruments in advance to facilitate the access undertaking assessment process.
"The decision-making criteria have been made to promote transparency in decision-making by setting out the criteria that the ACCC must apply in deciding whether to accept an access undertaking or a variation of an access undertaking. The object of the procedural rules is to promote the expeditious and efficient exercise of the ACCC's functions and powers."
Copies of the final decision-making criteria and procedural rules will be available on the ACCC's website.
The Government has foreshadowed legislative amendments that will require digital radio services to start in the mainland state capitals by 1 July 2009. ACMA will be responsible for managing the allocation of the licences. Further details of ACMA's processes can be found on its website, www.acma.gov.au.
On 21 September 2007, the ACCC issued a public discussion paper seeking views from interested stakeholders on access issues generally and the proposed legislative instruments in particular.
On 11 April 2008, the ACCC issued draft legislative instruments—decision-making criteria and procedural rules—seeking stakeholders' views on the access regime that will apply to digital radio.
The making of the legislative instruments by the ACCC follows consultation on these draft legislative instruments.
