Datacasting
Datacasters can be licensed to provide innovative services that are different from traditional television broadcasting services.
Spectrum in the broadcasting services bands can be made available for new datacasting services. Free-to-air broadcasters cannot purchase this spectrum. However, they can use their digital television spectrum to provide datacasting services. Commercial television broadcasters will be required to pay a charge for datacasting on their digital spectrum.
Datacasting service providers must hold datacasting licences. Datacasting content is subject to rules which restrict the provision of certain kinds of programs, particularly traditional entertainment genres. These restrictions are to ensure that datacasting services cannot be used to circumvent the moratorium on new commercial television licences.
The legislation governing datacasting can be found under Legislation.
In 2003, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) issued a three-year trial licence under the Radiocommunications Act 1992 for the provision of datacasting services in the Sydney metropolitan area, as a temporary arrangement for the purpose of testing new broadcast technologies. The trial was then extended a number of times since 2006, pending further Australian Government decisions in this area.
On 29 January 2010, the ACMA announced that it had approved a final extension of the Sydney datacasting trial to 30 April 2010. In making its decision to terminate the trial as at 30 April, the ACMA considered factors including the likelihood of long-term licences for such services in the future, the potential for this spectrum to be used for other technology trials such as 3D television, and the ACMA’s general policy of limiting the duration of trial licences. The ACMA’s decision to bring the trial to an end is consistent with its general approach to scientific apparatus licences and trials of new technologies.
Further information on datacasting can be found on the ACMA’s datacasting page
