ACMA noted that these licenses are expected to support a wide range of innovative business cases, including broadband services for remote communities

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) said it has successfully completed the allocation process for area wide licenses in the 3.4-4 GHz band in remote areas of Australia.

In a release, the regulator said it assigned licenses to a total of 31 companies which applied for area-wide allocations for remote regions in July this year.

ACMA said that the licenses were issued to resource companies, companies providing public and private telecommunications services and government organizations.

ACMA noted that these licenses are expected to support a wide range of innovative business cases, including broadband services for remote communities, health and safety applications, autonomous operation and monitoring, telemetry and robotics and augmented reality.

The regulator explained that the 3.4-4 GHz band is suitable for a wide range of technologies and use cases, including 5G public mobile telecommunications services, enterprise telecommunications services and private wireless networks.

This allocation process was the first tranche of allocation activity undertaken as part of the ACMA’s wider allocation of midband spectrum, the regulator said.

Applications for licenses in remote areas were invited through an application window process, held in July 2023. The ACMA then assessed applications against legislative and policy criteria. “The high degree of interest in the allocation process demonstrates the diverse industries for which spectrum has become a critical input,” ACMA said.

“The licenses issued by the ACMA, known as ‘area-wide licenses’, are service and technology-flexible, and scalable to different network sizes and topographies. This flexibility allows licensees to roll-out bespoke networks suitable for the requirements of the relevant business or organization. The licenses are suitable for small, localized services as well as nation-wide networks,” ACMA added.

In December 2021, Australian operators Optus and Telstra had secured spectrum in the 850/900 MHz band. ACMA had said that all 16 lots available in the spectrum auction were allocated. The allocation raised a total of AUD2.09 billion (currently $1.37 billion).

The regulator said Optus secured 12 lots of 900MHz spectrum for AUD1.48 billion, while Telstra won four lots of 850MHz spectrum for AUD616 million.

In April, five operators had secured spectrum in the 26 GHz band. Of the 360 lots available in the auction, 358 were sold, realizing a total revenue of AUD647.6 million.

In the auction, Telstra secured a total of 150 lots for AUD276.6 million, while Optus obtained 116 blocks for AUD226.2 million. TPG Telecom paid AUD108.2 million for 86 lots; Pentanet AUD7.9 million for four lots in Western Australia; and Dense Air paid a total of AUD28.6 million for two lots in Sydney and Melbourne.