As the 2009 Parliamentary year concluded amidst a maelstrom of climate change debates and resulting political turmoil for the Liberal Party, key policy processes for the mobile sector remain in the wings, Chris Althaus, AMTA Chief Executive Officer says.

“The long awaited papers on digital dividend and the future of the 2.5GHz band have not been sighted and there is no sign that this situation is changing any time soon despite frequent references to their imminent release. Similarly the process to address looming expiration of current 15-year spectrum licences remains unknown,” he said.

“Clearly mobile industry investment plans will be impacted by the timing of these spectrum policy issues.

“The policy outcomes for allocation of key spectrum bands will be critical to industry’s ability to meet future demand for mobile data services, particularly mobile broadband. We are not unique in this context. Similar debates are raging all around the globe where nations are coming to grips with the extraordinary opportunities presented by mobile data and are responding by allocating new spectrum resources. In many cases this involves a re-allocation away from incumbent spectrum users such as TV broadcasters.”

Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski said recently: “Much of what we see suggests that mobile broadband can be the pre-eminent platform for innovation in the next decade. To be the global leader in innovation 10 years from now, we need to lead the world in wireless broadband….. We will need to find ways to free up new spectrum to mobile broadband. This will require examining old allocation decisions."

To this end the Wall Street Journal has reported that a proposal floated recently by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officials to take (spectrum) airwaves from TV broadcasters has been met with sharp resistance from station owners.

Broadcasters' airwaves are highly coveted because signals travel easily across them, through walls and around trees. Most airwaves currently used by wireless carriers aren't that strong, which means companies need more towers to provide strong signals.

The market value of the television airwaves if used for wireless broadband would be about $64 billion, estimated Coleman Bazelon, an economist for the Brattle Group. Those airwaves are worth about $12 billion if they remain devoted to TV broadcasts, he said.

Mr Althaus said: “AMTA knows 2010 will be a defining year for the future of mobile telecommunications in Australia. In short, we must keep up with the pace of global developments in spectrum allocation so we can capitalize on the huge economic, social and environmental opportunities to be gained from mobile broadband and data services.”