Turnbull Government to convene 5G working group
12 October 2017
The Turnbull Government today released a 5G directions paper
and will convene a working group to drive the deployment of 5G mobile
technology in Australia.
While Australians have already shown an insatiable appetite
for mobile technology using existing 3G and 4G networks, the significant technological
advances offered by 5G will provide new opportunities across a range of
sectors.
The Government’s work will support the timely rollout of 5G
in Australia to enable the next wave of broad-based industry productivity and
to foster the growth of Australia’s digital economy.
The commercial rollout of 5G mobile networks is expected to commence
in 2020. 5G will support improved connectivity, significantly faster data speeds,
and very low latency. These characteristics will enable 5G to underpin
substantial economic and social benefits across the economy.
This directions paper highlights that the Government will
support 5G rollout in Australia by:
making spectrum available in a timely
manner,
actively engaging in international
standardisation processes,
streamlining planning arrangements to
allow mobile carriers to deploy infrastructure more quickly and at lower cost,
and reviewing existing
telecommunications regulatory arrangements to ensure they are fit-for-purpose
in the 5G era.
5G will be a key enabler for a range of Government
priorities, including the Digital Economy Strategy, policy development for autonomous
vehicles, and the Smart Cities Plan. To improve alignment across portfolios,
the Department of Communications and the Arts will establish a working group that
will bring together representatives from across Government and industry.
This working group will provide a platform for an ongoing
strategic dialogue on 5G, and will work to ensure that sectoral regulatory
frameworks are updated to take advantage of 5G.
The directions paper is available at: www.communications.gov.au/5Gdirectionspaper