While the mobile phone industry welcomed the Rudd government’s decision to put up for sale a large amount of broadcasting spectrum, it urged the government to set a date for the high-profile spectrum. The industry says the spectrum is required to satisfy huge demand for wireless broadband.

Analysts were expecting an auction date to be set when the government’s spectrum green paper was announced on Tuesday.

The ‘digital dividend’ spectrum becomes available when the analog TV signal is switched off in 2013, with most expected to be taken up by mobile phone networks and used for fourth generation (4G) mobile phone services. A spokesman for Optus, the number two mobile phone operator, said it welcomed the green paper as the first step in quantifying the size, use, cost and timing of the release of digital dividend spectrum.

The Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association’s view in discussions with the government prior to the green paper’s launch was that the release of the spectrum for mobile broadband could contribute up to $10 billion in economic productivity gains.

Chief executive of the AMTA Chris Althaus says the bands of spectrum offered will be the cream of the airwaves due to their ability to carry high-speed video over long distances in rural and remote areas.

In a note to clients yesterday, Merrill Lynch says expectations were that the government would announce an auction date, while the green paper simply calls for industry comment on a range of issues.

The mobile industry may be against any government moves to set aside spectrum for NBN Co, and while Mr Althaus says the industry needs the spectrum, at the end of the day he says it is a partner with the NBN in fixed access.

The government has issued threats to lock Telstra out of future spectrum auctions if it does not make a deal to transfer traffic from its copper network to the fixed-line section of the NBN.