Carrier Licensing, Power and Immunities Emergency Services

1
Carrier Licensing, Power and Immunities Emergency
Services Law Enforcement

• Rowan Pulford
• Policy Analyst

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Carrier Licensing

• Open licensing regime
• Carrier is holder of a carrier licence
• The owner of a network unit that is used to
  supply carriage services to the public must hold
  a carrier licence unless
• a nominated carrier declaration is in force in
  relation to the network unit or
• an exemption applies

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY
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Who may hold a carrier licence?

• Any constitutional corporation, partnership
  involving constitutional corporations and public
  bodies may apply to be licensed as a carrier
• ACA may only grant a carrier licence where
  applicant has an approved industry plan
• ACA may refuse to grant licences to disqualified
  persons

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY
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Who must hold a carrier licence?

• Owners of network units are prohibited from
  allowing those units to be used to supply
  carriage services to the public without
• holding a carrier licence, or
• a nominated carrier declaration being in force

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY
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Network Units

• Line links exceeding 500m
• Multiple links exceeding 5km
• Designated Radiocommunications Links
• Base Station that is part of a Public Mobile
  Telecommunications Service
• Base Station that is part of a Terrestrial
  Radiocommunications Customer Access Network
• Fixed Radiocommunications Link
• Satellite-based Facilities

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Carriage Service

• Carriage service means a service for carrying
  communications by means of guided and/or unguided
  electromagnetic energy.

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Supply to the public Immediate circle

• Fundamental to carrier and service provider
  concepts
• Used to determine if a person is supplying
  services to the public
• that is, outside the persons immediate circle
• A persons immediate circle is defined by
  reference to who they are (eg. corporation,
  private individual or government authority)

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Nominated Carrier Declaration

• Carriers may apply to be a nominated carrier in
  relation to a particular network unit
• accepting carrier related responsibilities
• removing the requirement for the units owner to
  be licensed
• Primarily intended to deal with legal ownership
  by financiers arising out of financing
  arrangements

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY
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Carrier Licensing Exemptions

• Existing exemptions for
• defence, intelligence organisations
• transport authorities, electricity supply bodies
• broadcasters (on more limited grounds)
• under previous laws
• Exemptions allow purpose-based use and sale of
  remaining capacity to carriers or other exempt
  users

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Trial Certificate

• Allows networks units owned by a non-carrier to
  be used to supply carriage services to the public
  for a set period.
• Maximum period of trial is 6 months
• Further extensions of 6 months permitted

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Carrier Licensing Benefits

• Right to own facilities that are used to provide
  public services
• Facilities access rights
• Powers and immunities (planning laws)
• Carriers obligations

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Carriage Service Providers

• A person who supplies a carriage service to the
  public using a network unit is a carriage service
  provider

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Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO)

• An independent body acting as last resort for
  handling of complaints for customers of
  telecommunications services
• All carriers, carriage service providers and
  Internet service providers are required by
  legislation to join and fund the scheme if they
  supply
• Standard Telephone Service to residential or
  small business customers
• Public Mobile Telephone Service
• Service that enables end-users to access Internet

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Future Directions

• Increase in carriers and use of wireless
• Utilities (Rail, Electricity etc)
• Use of Satellites in remote areas
• Innovative technology usage

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Commonwealth Regulation of the Installation of
Telecommunications Facilities in Australia

• Rowan Pulford

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Who is the ACA?

• Regulator for telecommunications and
  radiocommunications
• Responsibilities include
• Telecommunications carrier licensing
• Administration of legislation granting carriers
  powers and immunities when installing some
  telecommunications facilities

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ACA administration of powers and immunities
provisions

• Telecommunications Act 1997
• Telecommunications (Low-impact Facilities)
  Determination 1997
• Telecommunications Code of Practice 1997

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Legislative Background - Pre 1 July 1997

• Telecommunications Act 1991 and the
  Telecommunications National Codes 1994 and 1996
• Carriers able to install infrastructure without
  local council approval
• Growing community concern about
  telecommunications infrastructure, particularly
  mobile phone towers and overhead cable facilities

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Legislative Background - Post 1 July 1997

• Telecommunications Act 1997
• Open competition
• Removed the limit on the number of carriers
• Devolved the responsibility for the regulation of
  most telecommunications facilities back to the
  State and Territories

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Objectives of the 1997 Act

• Address public concerns about telecommunications
  facilities
• Facilitate rollout of networks and the provision
  of services by carriers to consumers
• Balance between rights of property owners and the
  benefits from competition in infrastructure

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Approval of Installation of Infrastructure

• Installation of telecommunications facilities by
  carriers subject to State or Territory laws
  unless exempted by the Act
• Exemptions are listed under clause 6 of Schedule
  3 to the Act
• Most important exemption is low impact
  facilities

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Low Impact Facilities

• Telecommunications (Low-impact Facilities)
  Determination 1997 (including amendments
  September 1999)
• Facilities which were seen as not having large
  visual impacts and consequently not to give rise
  to significant environmental or planning concerns

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Low Impact Facilities (2)

• Typically includes
• Small radiocommunications dishes and antennae
• In-building subscriber connection equipment
• Underground cabling
• Public payphones
• Emergency facilities

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Low Impact Facilities (3)

• Does not include
• Overhead cabling
• Mobile phone towers

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Facility Installation Permits

• Appeal to the ACA where the carrier has not been
  able to obtain all approvals normally necessary
  for a facilitys installation
• Applies only to facilities of national
  significance
• ACA must hold a public inquiry before granting a
  facility installation permit
• No applications received

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Subscriber Connections

• Installations to connect a building, structure,
  caravan or mobile home to a line that is part of
  a telecommunications network
• Exemption expired 1 July 2000
• Subscriber connections now require State and
  Territory planning approval

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Telecommunications Code of Practice 1997

• Sets out obligations on carriers installing
  facilities authorised under the Act
• These include
• Notifying landowners and occupiers
• Doing as little damage as practicable
• Acting according to good engineering practice
  (Cond)

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Telecommunications Code of Practice 1997 (2)

• Taking all reasonable steps to ensure that the
  land is restored to a condition similar to that
  before the installation began
• Providing notice to affected road authorities and
  utilities
• Co-locating facilities

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Co-location of facilities

• Carriers must take all reasonable steps to
  determine whether it is possible to co-locate low
  impact facilities
• Carriers dont have to co-locate where it is not
  reasonable for them to do so
• Carriers have extensive rights to place
  facilities in or on the facilities of other
  carriers under part 5 of Schedule 1 to the Act

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Objections by owner/occupier of land

• The owner or occupier of land may object about
  the installation of a low impact facility
• Objection must be on one of the grounds listed in
  the Code of Practice

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Objections by owner/occupier of land (2)

• Grounds for objection generally relate to the way
  it is proposed to carry out the installation, not
  to the facility itself
• Objections are made to the carrier
• If the objection cannot be resolved, it can be
  referred to the Telecommunications Industry
  Ombudsman (TIO)
• TIO can also investigate complaints about
  inadequate land entry notifications

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Installations in Environmentally Sensitive Areas

• An installation in an environmentally sensitive
  area cannot be a low impact facility
• Environmentally sensitive areas are listed in the
  Low Impact Facilities Determination
• Areas already protected under State or
  Commonwealth law
• Register of the National Estate
• Nature Conservation Reserves

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Installations in Environmentally sensitive Areas
(2)

• Environment Protection and Biodiversity
  Conservation Act 1999
• Regulates actions likely to have a significant
  impact on matters on national environmental
  significance
• Administered by Environment Australia

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Role of the ACA under PI scheme

• ACA can investigate complaints about carrier
  non-compliance with the Act, Code of Practice or
  a registered Code
• The ACA can warn or direct a carrier about how to
  comply with its obligations
• Financial penalties may be imposed on carriers
  who fail to comply with an ACA direction (up to
  10 million)

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Role of the ACA under PI scheme (2)

• The ACA does not have power to
• Make a determination about whether a facility is
  low impact
• Require a carrier to co-locate a facility
• Require a carrier to comply with obligations not
  contained in the Act, the Code of Practice or a
  Code registered under the Act.

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Industry response to address community concerns

• The Australian Communications Industry Forum
  (ACIF) code Deployment of Radiocommunications
  Infrastructure Code
• Mobile Carriers Forum

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ACIF Code

• Prepared by representatives from ALGA, consumer
  groups, government agencies, health and safety
  organisations and carriers
• The Code incorporates the precautionary principle
  and from 10 April 2003 requires local council
  and community consultation by carriers

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Mobile Carriers Forum

• National committee with groups being set up at
  state level
• Improve co-location outcomes
• Improve carrier relations with local councils and
  communities

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Mobile Carriers Forum (2)

• Agreed National Co-location Framework and
  Timeframes
• Specific issues being addressed by the Forum
  include
• Towers to contain sufficient space to allow
  multiple carriers facilities to be placed on a
  tower
• Spacing between antennae on the tower

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Council responses - MAV

• Municipal Association of Victoria
• Using the Internet to provide information to
  local government and a forum where issues can be
  discussed
• Bringing together local government, carriers and
  regulators to discuss issues relating to the
  installation of telecommunications infrastructure

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Other Related Issues

• Inspection of land
• Carriers have the right under Clause 5 of
  Schedule 3 to the Act to enter on and inspect any
  land to determine whether it is suitable for its
  purposes
• Carrier may also do anything on the land that is
  necessary or desirable for the purpose of
  determining whether the land is suitable for its
  purpose

42
Maintenance of facilities

• Carriers have the right to maintain a
  telecommunications facility under clause 7 of the
  Schedule 3 to the Act
• The term maintenance is defined very widely in
  the Act, and can include the replacement of the
  whole or a part of the original facility in its
  original location

43
Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR)

• Effects of EMR from radiocommunications
  facilities dealt with separately from
  installation or visual impact issues
• ACA has mandated a standard which sets pubic
  exposure limits to EMR - the Radiocommunications
  (Electromagnetic Radiation-Human Exposure)
  Standard 1999

44
Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR)
(2)

• Exposure limits in the ACA standard are more
  stringent than most international standards.
• Mobile phone towers produce weak EMR exposure
  levels in the everyday environment.

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Further Information

• ACA booklet - Telecommunications
  Facilities-Information for local government
• ACA fact sheet - Installation of
  telecommunications facilities - A guide for
  consumers
• ACA booklet - Mobile telephony...your health and
  regulation of radiofrequency electromagnetic
  radiation

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Further Information (2)

• ACA Web site, www.aca.gov.au
• Department of Communications, Information
  Technology and the Arts Web site,
  www.dcita.gov.au
• ARPANSA Web site, www.arpansa.gov.au
• Environment Australia Web site, www.ea.gov.au

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National Interests

• Two main areas of work
• - Emergency Services and
• - Law Enforcement.

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Legislation

• Parts 14 and 15 of the Telecommunications Act
  1997.
• Part 8 of the Telecommunications (Consumer
  Protection Service Standards) Act 1999.

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Emergency Services

• National emergency number is 000.
• Secondary emergency numbers
• - 112 (GSM mobile phones) and
• - 106 (text-based emergency service).
• Emergency call person
• - Telstra (000 and 112) and
• - Australian Communication Exchange (106).

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000

• There are two national 000 call centres.
• Calls are answered by Telstra, then forwarded to
  the appropriate emergency service organisation
  (police, fire, ambulance).
• All CSPs must provide their customers with access
  to 000.
• Calls to 000 are free from all phones.

51
ESAC

• ACA convenes an Emergency Services Advisory
  Committee (ESAC) comprising representatives of
  emergency service organisations, carriers and
  consumer and government organisations.

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ESAC Work Program for 2003 includes

• Strategies to minimise non-genuine calls
• Awareness campaigns (new website)
• Future of the emergency call service
• Future technologies and
• Improvements to Mobile Origin Location
  Information (MOLI).

53
Law Enforcement

• All carriers must provide reasonably necessary
  assistance to law enforcement agencies
• - provision of call charge records
• - subscriber checks and
• - checks of the IMEI number of mobile phones.
• Each carriage service must be capable of being
  intercepted for law enforcement and national
  security protection.

54
LEAC

• The ACA convenes a Law Enforcement Advisory
  Committee (LEAC) comprising representatives of
  law enforcement agencies, carrier and agencies
  with national security responsibilities.

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LEAC Work Program for 2003 includes

• Identifying strategies to make pre paid mobile
  services less anonymous
• Lawful interception based on IMEI
• IMEI blocking and
• Future technologies.

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Disaster Planning

• ACA convened an industry taskforce to consider
  communications support for emergency management
  in a multi-carrier environment.
• Industry guideline that provides for a
  coordinated approach to the provision of
  communications resources in the event of an
  emergency was published.

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Network Survival

• ACA is currently scoping the wider picture of the
  vulnerability of communication infrastructure.
• What is the ACAs a role in ensuring network
  survivability and encouraging industry
  preparedness for disaster situations - such as
  the September 11 attacks?