Wireless access for free?

A few months ago the New South Wales Government announced its intention to roll out a free wireless broadband service in the Sydney CBD and other major centres in 2008. Those centres reportedly also include North Sydney as well as Liverpool, Newcastle and other areas. The proposal was announced on 29 November 2006 by Premier Morris Iemma, who said that “Universal access to wireless broadband in our CBDs will further boost the state’s economy and make NSW more attractive for expanding or new businesses”.

The proposal is exciting for telecommunications carriers and resellers who may be in the running to provision the services. The proposal on the NSW Government website refers to a number of similar installations, including wireless networks that have been or are to be deployed in San Francisco, the City of Philadelphia, Paris and several metropolitan networks throughout the UK.

In order to establish a wireless network there are a number of issues that must be analysed. Any organisations that plan to consider the deployment of wireless infrastructure should ideally consult a lawyer who specialises in this area. Without the proper advice the carrier can be left with equipment that is non-compliant and therefore inoperable. There are also codes of practice, industry forum codes, planning schemes and a raft of other legally binding provisions that must be adhered to before the provider can focus on tapping the revenue stream from its infrastructure. There are also relevant occupational health and safety laws, radiocommunications laws, laws regarding electromagnetic radiation and a raft of other laws that will impact on the deployment.

According to the Telecommuni-cations Act, where a network unit is owned by one or more persons and the unit is used to supply a carriage service to the public, the owner(s) of the network unit must either hold a carrier licence or ensure that a nominated carrier declaration is in force in relation to the network unit.

This means that it is necessary to obtain a carrier licence or use the licence of another carrier via a nominated carrier declaration before wireless services may go online.

Carrier licence application costs are payable to the Federal Government. The costs have been decreased significantly, from $10,000 to $2000, and the fixed component of the annual carrier licence charge from $10,000 to $1000. In addition, there are annual variable charges that the carrier will need to pay, which is dependent on the carrier’s eligible annual revenue that flows from the relevant services.

Carrier licence applications require the submission of a comprehensive application to the Federal Government department responsible for radiocommunications licensing operations, namely the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

The application requires the disclosure of significant information regarding the applicant, including the type of network owned, or proposed to be owned, by the applicant, the type of services to be provided, and compliance policies containing strategies for compliance with protection of communications, national interest matters and co-operation with agencies.

After a carrier licence is established, the next step is to deploy the infrastructure that is to comprise the wireless network.

This may include the purchase and installation of towers, low impact facilities (such as small antennae and satellite dishes) and the application to local councils for development approval.

It will be interesting to see whether any significant infrastructure is established and used in the tender to the NSW Government regarding this proposal. An Expression of Interest (EOI) is set to be issued by the NSW Government Chief Information Office, Department of Commerce, to ‘gauge market interest’ and to canvass innovative ideas from commercial broadband suppliers.

It will also be interesting to see how the proposal impacts on existing wired broadband resellers.

Disclaimer: This column is for general informational purposes only. It is not legal advice nor is it a substitute for legal advice. Readers should seek legal advice on their own particular circumstances.

Alan Arnott is a technology and telecom-munications lawyer with qualifications in computer science and law with Arnotts Lawyers in Sydney. For more information, please visit: www.technologylaw.com.au or www.arnotts.net.au.