The Minister for Communications decided new uses for the former analogue television Band III (174-230 MHz) in April 2017, following a review of options for allocating the frequencies in this band. One of these new uses is land mobile radio services, which is allocated 10 MHz between 174-184 MHz.

Radio Spectrum Management has prepared a consultation document concerning the technical specifications for land mobile radio services operating in these frequencies. The document covers:

• the licensing regime to be used
• the allocation mechanism
• allocation terms and conditions, and
• the approach to and details of any technical specifications.

Interested parties are invited to comment on the questions raised by the consultation document and other matters related to land mobile radio services operating in 174-184 MHz.

For further information or to download the consultation document visit 174 MHz-184 MHz: Land Mobile Radio technical consultation.

Submissions are due by Wednesday 13 December 2017.

A reminder following from the item in the October Business update that Radio Spectrum Management (RSM) has announced details for the auction of five FM sound broadcasting spectrum licences following an expression of interest (EOI) process.

Auction 14 will be managed by Turners with the licences sold on the Trade Me website. It will start on 3 November 2017 and run for seven days until 10 November 2017.

The tenure of the licences is until 2 April 2031 subject to licensees meeting implementation requirements.

A list of licences to be auctioned, their reserve prices and the full terms and conditions of auction are available on the RSM website.

The recent sale of 70% of Farmside by TeamTalk to Vodafone made TeamTalk and Vodafone associated entities under the rules of the Managed Spectrum Park (MSP). Under those rules MSP licence holders, such as TeamTalk, cannot hold or be associated with holders of Management Rights in the 2.3/2.5/2.6GHz bands. As Vodafone owns such rights, this placed TeamTalk in breach of the MSP rules. This situation generated significant interest from other licence holders and WISP operators. 

RSM has powers to enforce the MSP rules. However, those powers weren’t necessary in this case thanks to the full cooperation of TeamTalk. TeamTalk has agreed that all of its licences in the Managed Spectrum Park will be cancelled. This process is currently underway, with some licences already cancelled and the remainder set to expire on 11 December 2017. 

We would like to remind current and prospective MSP licence holders to read the MSP Allocation Rules, Park Rules and the Licence Agreement template on the RSM website, or in the Agreement they have signed, and ensure that they are in compliance with the provisions of the Park Rules and the Licence Agreement.

Applications have been received for licences for radio spectrum in the 2.5 GHz Managed Spectrum Park band. Potential uses for this spectrum include wireless broadband services.

Parties interested in utilising this spectrum are able to apply for access on a first-come, first-served basis, but with sharing processes required to be negotiated by applicants.

Applications have been received by the Crown Spectrum Asset Manager from:

• PrimoWireless Ltd, for licences with additional coverage in parts of the New Plymouth, Stratford and South Taranaki District TLA areas.

View the notification of applications for Managed Spectrum Park licences.