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Current Issues
Digital Television and Datacasting
E-Brief: Online Only issued 16 June 2003
Kim Jackson,
Analysis and Policy
Social Policy Group
Key Sites
The most useful sites relating to the introduction of digital
television and datacasting in Australia are:
- The industry site Digital
Broadcasting Australia (DBA) has been developed to ensure the
smoothest possible transition to digital television for associated
industries, viewers and consumers. It is supported by free-to-air
television operators, consumer electronics and broadcast technology
suppliers, installers and retailers. It has a comprehensive
archive of
news stories on digital developments.
Policy and Legislation
Background to the Government Decision
The ABA had monitored developments in digital television since
1993, when it established a specialist group comprising industry
and government experts to examine options for digital television
systems suitable for Australian conditions. In January 1997 the
final report of the specialist group, Digital Terrestrial
Broadcasting in Australia was presented to the
Authority.
In July 1997 the ABA responded to the Specialist Group's report
with its Paper, Digital
Terrestrial Television Broadcasting (pdf file), which
recommended to the Government that it support the early
introduction of digital television into Australia. It considered
that it should be a free-to-air service rather than a form of pay
TV and it endorsed the loan of a 7MHz channel to each of the ABC,
SBS and the three commercial networks, as this would enable the
introduction of high definition television from the outset. This
was the approach adopted by the Government, which announced its
decisions on the 24 March 1998.
Television Broadcasting Services (Digital Conversion) Act
1998
The conversion to digital broadcasting required amendments to
both the Broadcasting
Services Act 1992 and the Radiocommunications
Act 1992. The former sets out the ownership and programming
conditions for broadcasting licences and is administered by the
ABA. The latter regulates the usage of the spectrum, including the
licensing of transmitting apparatus, and is administered by the
Australian Communications
Authority (ACA).
These amendments were contained in the Television
Broadcasting Services (Digital Conversion) Act 1998 ('the
Digital Conversion Act'), which provides the legislative basis for
the scheme. The Act instructs the ABA to formulate digital
conversion schemes for commercial and national (ABC and SBS)
broadcasters in accordance with the policy objectives described in
the legislation. Datacasting charges are the subject of related
revenue legislation, the Datacasting
Charge (Imposition) Act 1998.
Datacasting was defined in the Digital Conversion Act as a
service (other than a broadcasting service) that delivers
information to persons having equipment appropriate for receiving
that information, where the delivery of the service uses the
broadcasting services bands. This form of definition was required
because the market for datacasting services had not yet developed
and the precise nature and scope of the services was unknown.
Digital Television and Datacasting Act 2000
On 21 December 1999 the Government announced
its decisions on the limitations that would apply to
datacasting services and other requirements for the introduction of
digital television. The Broadcasting Services Amendment (Digital
Television and Datacasting) Bill 2000 and the Datacasting Charge
(Imposition) Amendment Bill 2000 were introduced on 10 May 2000 to
implement these decisions.
The text of the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Digital
Television and Datacasting) Bill 2000, the Explanatory Memorandum,
Second Reading Speeches and Bills Digest can be obtained from
this page. The Bill was the subject of a debate in the Senate
on the 19, 21 and 22 June, with the Committee Stage (27, 28 and 29
June) resulting in significant amendments. The relevant Hansards
can be downloaded from this page. The Bill
was also the subject of a
Report by the Senate Environment, Communications, Information
Technology and the Arts Legislation Committee.
The Broadcasting
Services Amendment (Digital Television and Datacasting) Act
2000 made substantial amendments to the Broadcasting
Services Act 1992 to refine arrangements for the introduction
of digital television. The most significant of these were:
- the requirement for broadcasters to transmit a standard
definition digital television (SDTV) signal at all times and at
least 20 hours per week of high definition digital broadcasts
(HDTV);
- provisions to enable the ABC and SBS to multi-channel certain
kinds of programs; and
- provisions to permit digital program enhancement content and
electronic program guides.
All mainland capital city stations were required to begin
transmitting full-time digital services from 1 January 2001,
although the analog signals would be simulcast until at least 2008.
The requirement for 20 hours of HDTV would take effect from the end
of 2002.
The legislation also added a new schedule (Schedule
6) to the Act. This comprised the regulatory regime for
datacasting services: it established the licensing system (Part 2)
and contained detailed specifications for datacasting services to
ensure that they would not become de facto television broadcasts
(Part 3). In broad summary, these provisions ensured that
datacasting licensees would not broadcast matter that would be
equivalent to a television news, drama, sports, documentary,
lifestyle or entertainment program, or a commercial radio program.
They were allowed to transmit extracts of TV programs, so long as
they were no longer than 10 minutes and not strung together so as
to constitute a single program. Datacasters were allowed to
transmit information and education programs, parliamentary and
court proceedings, text and still images, interactive computer
games and Internet-style services.
The Datacasting
Charge (Imposition) Amendment Act 2000 was enacted at the same
time as the above legislation. It made consequential amendments to
the Datacasting
Charge (Imposition) Act 1998 to reflect the new regulatory
scheme for datacasting.
Reactions to the Legislation
Some of the provisions of this legislation have been subject to
considerable criticism:
- the Final Report of the Productivity Commission's Inquiry
into Broadcasting criticised the mandatory requirements for
HDTV and the restrictions on datacasting (see Chapter 7);
-
Telstra announced that it was withdrawing from a datacasting
trial because it was disappointed with the legislation;
-
News Ltd claimed that the legislation would put the free-to-air
broadcasters beyond competition and retard the social benefits of
datacasting;
- the Federation of Australian Commercial Television Stations
(FACTS) supported the mandatory HDTV requirements and the
restrictions on datacasting.
The Senate Environment, Communications, Information Technology
and the Arts Legislation Committee's
Report into the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Digital
Television and Datacasting) Bill 2000 contains many extracts and
references to those who expressed a view on the legislation.
Recent Amendments to the Digital Television and
Datacasting Provisions
There have been a number of further amendments to the
Broadcasting Services Act s digital television and datacasting
provisions. These are:
- The
Broadcasting Legislation Amendment Act 2001 transfers
provisions which authorise the ABC and SBS to engage in datacasting
to their enabling legislation namely, the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983 and the Special
Broadcasting Service Act 1991. The Act also makes a range of
minor amendments to provisions that were inserted by the
Broadcasting Services Amendment (Digital Television and
Datacasting) Act 2000.
- The Broadcasting
Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1) 2003 changes the HDTV quota
from a weekly to an annual quota, allows advertising and
promotional material to count towards the quota and delays the
commencement date for the statutory review of HDTV quota
arrangements.
Policy Reviews
A number of policy reviews were conducted as part of the process
of determining the regulatory framework for digital television, all
of which were tabled in Parliament on 10 May 2000. These included
reviews of:
- Underserved regional licence areas;
- ABC and SBS multi-channelling;
- The scope of datacasting services;
- HDTV targets, standards and formats;
- Captioning standards; and
- Convergence between broadcasting and other services.
These reviews can be obtained from
this page.
The legislation also required further reviews on datacasting,
the spectrum clearance powers of the ABA, digital transmission of
community television and the definition of streamed media on the
Internet. The reviews can be accessed from
this page, together with a list of other reviews that have yet
to be undertaken.
Developments in Datacasting
Auction of Datacasting Transmitter Licences
The auctioning of datacasting transmitter licences is the
responsibility of the Spectrum
Marketing Group of the Australian Communications Authority
(ACA). Documents relating to the ACA s role in datacasting
regulation can be obtained from
this page.
On the 17 January 2001 the Minister for Communications,
Information Technology and the Arts directed the ACA to impose
competition limits on the auction of datacasting transmitter
licences. A media
release on the subject is available.
On the 23 January 2001 the ACA invited applications for the
licences and on 22 February it reported that seven applications had
been received. Four of these applicants eventually made eligibility
payments. On 12 April Telstra
announced that it was withdrawing from the auction because the
cost of developing a datacasting business was unlikely to make a
sufficient return to justify the investment. On the 9 May the
Minister directed that the auction be cancelled. The Minister's
media release can be obtained from this
page.
Datacasting Charges and Licences
On 4 April 2001 the ACA made available its report on the
Principles for Determining the Amount of Datacasting Charge.
The report made recommendations on the determination of fees to
apply to commercial television broadcasters who transmit
datacasting services. These fees are required under the provisions
of the Datacasting Charges (Imposition) Act 1998 to ensure
that the commercial broadcasters do not have an unfair advantage
over other potential datacasters, who must bid for transmitter
licences. The ACA's
Datacasting Charge (Amount) Determination 2001 was notified in
the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette
No. GN 25 of 27 June 2000.
All persons wishing to provide a datacasting service must obtain
a datacasting licence. The ABA is required to maintain a
register of datacasting licences, as well as a register of
nominated datacaster declarations. The nominated datacaster
declaration clarifies the responsibilities between the datacasting
transmitter licence holder and the datacasting licence holder when
the licences are held by different people.
Datacasting Review
During the Federal Election the Government announced that it
would undertake a review of datacasting in 2002. On the 19 December
2001 it released an Issues Paper and called for submissions to be
made by 25 January 2002. The final report was published in December
2002.
The Government s decisions were as follows:
- there should be no change at this time to the rules relating to
the content which can be provided under a datacasting licence
- not to proceed with the long-term allocation of datacasting
transmitter licences at this point in time. Broadcasters will
continue to be able to provide licensed datacasting services using
their digital spectrum
- to encourage use of the spectrum for trials of digital
services
- that commercial and national broadcasters be allowed to
transmit datacasting services from the date of commencement of
their digital services in a licence area
The report, submissions and other documents are available from
this page.
Datacasting Trials
The ABA is calling for expressions of interest from
organisations interested in conducting trials of datacasting
services. These are intended to assist industry to develop new
technical and business models for datacasting services. Details can
be obtained from this ABA
page. The Minister has also issued a
media release on the subject.
Planning and
Implementation
Schedule 4 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 requires the
ABA to formulate schemes for the conversion of commercial and
national broadcasting services to digital mode. The Commercial and
National Conversion Schemes can be obtained from this
page.
Under these Schemes the commercial and national broadcasters
were required to develop implementation
plans. An Implementation Plan is a binding commitment by a
broadcaster to provide a television service in digital mode from
specified sites to cover specified areas by specified dates, so as
to achieve the same area of coverage in SDTV digital mode as is
achieved by that service in analog mode, as soon as is practicable
after the simulcast period begins. The ABA s Register
of Implementation Plans provides access to the plans for each
State and Territory, including the proposed start dates for
regional broadcasters.
The ABA is also required to develop digital channel plans (DCPs)
to determine which channels are to be allotted to each area, the
assignment of channels to each broadcaster and the technical
characteristics of those channels. The ABA's objective in preparing
the DCPs is to enable a broadcaster to plan its digital
transmission coverage to match its analog coverage. These plans can
be accessed from this page.
Details of digital
channels are also available.
A timeline
for digital implementation prepared by the ABA is also
available.
A
summary of developments (pdf file) during the first year of
implementation (2001) has also been published by the ABA.
Digital
Consumer Equipment and Services
The Digital Broadcasting
Australia (DBA) site contains extensive information on digital
equipment for consumers, including widescreen televisions,
digital TV
receivers (set top boxes or STBs) and integrated digital
televisions (IDTVs). It also has details of the digital television
services that are available in the various markets throughout
Australia.
The ABA has published a
brief guide for consumers (pdf file).
Recent Developments
Closure of ABC Digital Channels
On 26 May 2003 the ABC announced
that it would close its digital multi-channel services, Fly TV and
ABC Kids, as a result of the failure to obtain additional funding
in the Commonwealth Budget. This action was foreshadowed in the ABC
s Triennial
Funding Submission. The Minister
has stated that there is no justification for the ABC blaming
the Government for the closure.
Digital Uptake
In mid-February 2003 it
was estimated that there were 52 800 digital television
households. Equipment
manufacturers have estimated that they have sold a total of 70
500 STBs and IDTVs to retailers up to 31 March 2003. There are 7.5
million households in Australia.
A recent survey
of industry players predicted that the digital uptake would
reach 46 per cent of households by 2008, when the analogue
switch-off is supposed to occur. Even this degree of penetration,
which would not be enough to justify the switch-off, appears
unlikely given the current uptake.
Digital Radio
The Minister
has announced the establishment of a digital radio study group
to report on the status of available digital radio technologies.
The group will report by late 2003. The ABA has
a page on digital radio.
Foxtel/Telstra Competition Issues
On 13 November 2002, the Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission (ACCC) announced the
court-enforceable undertakings that had been proposed to
address the ACCC's concern about the potential anti-competitive
effects of the planned pay-TV arrangements between Foxtel and
Optus, which will allow them to share pay TV programming. The
undertakings provide access to programs for pay TV operators,
broader choice for consumers and access to Telstra's cable network
and Foxtel's set-top boxes. These undertakings included a proposal
by Telstra to invest in and to commence supplying a digital
subscription television carriage service and for Foxtel to invest
in and commence supply of digital set top unit and related
conditional access services.
The proposal to undertake the digital investment is contingent
on Foxtel and Telstra first obtaining anticipatory individual
exemption orders from the Commission in relation to the supply of a
digital cable and digital satellite subscription television
service.
In January 2003 the Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission (ACCC) issued a
Discussion Paper and
media release on applications lodged by Telstra and Foxtel to
obtain these exemptions. Other documents relating to this issue can
be obtained from this ACCC
page.
Other Reports
and Sites
The Digital
Television in Australia: 2002 Industry Survey was conducted for
the ABA by the Interactive Television Research Institute of Murdoch
University on the views of the relevant industry players on the
potential drivers and inhibitors for the digital television
industry.
Digital Television Broadcasting: Perspectives on the Future
provides a broad overview of digital television technologies, their
potential to offer new and improved services, as well as their
inherent risks. The focus of this research is on digital television
enhancements, High Definition television, High Definition content
acquisition and interactive television.
Digital
Television in Australia is an unofficial site that discusses
the issues and provides many links to related sites.
DigitalTelevision.com
contains links to many international sites dealing with digital
television developments.
For copyright reasons some linked items are only
available to Members of Parliament.
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