[MLB-WIRELESS] Carrier Licence

[Gráinne O'Donovan]

Thought I'd throw my 2 cents in.

I am NOT a telecoms specialist, but it seems to me that:


   1. The requirement of an approved Industry Development Plan as a
   prerequisite to a carrier licence application was removed by legislative
   amendment in September 2005 (Part 2 of Schedule 1 of the Telecommunications
   Act 1997, which made an IDP a condition of a carrier licence, was
   repealed<http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/num_act/tlaacia2005n1192005763/sch1.html>).
   A quick check of the ACMA Carrier Licence Application Form
   <http://www.acma.gov.au/acmainterwr/aca_home/licensing/telcomm/app_form/carlicap.pdf>supports
   this, as no reference is made to an IDP in the form or checklist, although
   the Guide<http://www.acma.gov.au/ACMAINTER.1900810:STANDARD::pc=PC_578>still
refers to IDP's - but hasn't been amended since before the 2005
   Amending Act.
   2. If you really want to apply for a carrier licence, it IS
   theoretically possible to do so as an incorporated association, although
   none of the licensees listed on the Register
   <http://www.acma.gov.au/ACMAINTER.852114:STANDARD::pc=PC_1625>is other
   than a company, so it might "throw" the ACMA people. This is because a
   "constitutional corporation" may apply for a licence. The term "corporation"
   includes companies, incorporated associations and even some unincorporated
   associations (Corporations Act
s57A<http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ca2001172/s57a.html>).
   A "constitutional corporation" is one that is either a foreign corporation,
   a financial corporation or a trading corporation. The "trading corporation"
   category is the easiest to satisfy.
   3. However, setting up a company isn't expensive these days. The
   application fee to ASIC is only about $400 or so. The annual return of a Pty
   Ltd company is very simple. Basically, changes of officeholders and key data
   must be communicated to ASIC during the year, and an annual statement
   checked for accuracy (ASIC sends it to you) at year's end. The annual fee is
   $212 or $40 for a special purpose (not-for-profit) company.c
   4. It looks as if the carrier licence application fee (of $2200) might
   be refundable if the application is unsuccessful.
(s73A<http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ta1997214/s73a.html>
   )
   5. Not sure if this could be a goer, but it seems to me that the
   Minister might be willing to consider an application for a determination
   exempting Melbourne Wireless from the requirement that it (and its network
   members) hold a carrier licence. As far as I can tell, there have only been
   two determinations by the Minister under
s51<http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ta1997214/s51.html>.
One was to rectify an anomaly of double-regulation (re datacasting)
and
   the other reads:

"I, RICHARD KENNETH ROBERT ALSTON, Minister for Communications, the
Information Economy and the Arts, under subsection 51(1) of the
Telecommunications Act 1997 ('the Act'), determine that section 42 of the
Act does not apply in relation to the fixed radiocommunications links owned
by Santos Ltd (ACN 007 550 923) between Caldina Creek and Moomba, both in
the State of South Australia. "

(Section 42 is the one that imposes an obligation to hold a carrier
licence.)


That means there's not much of a history of section 51 applications
(successful ones, at any rate). But, one of the objects of the
Telecommunications Act is "to promote the supply of diverse and innovative
carriage services<http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ta1997214/s3.html>and
<http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ta1997214/s3.html>content
services<http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ta1997214/s3.html>
" <http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ta1997214/s3.html>
so you'd hope they'd be open to considering a network that is really
designed to support hobbyists/members, not the general public, especially if
that network were willing to put in place any necessary safeguards and
promised to "play nicely" in the "public park" of 2.4GHz (or the other one -
I'm showing my ignorance now).

Such an application would be made to the Minister (DCITA). I haven't spotted
an application fee anywhere (and I've looked). We could be lucky there.
Might be worth a try.


-- 
Grace to you,
Gráinne
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.wireless.org.au/pipermail/melbwireless/attachments/20060923/ff04cecd/attachment.html>