{"id":"F2015L00752","name":"Radiocommunications (Spectrum Licence Limits—Regional 1800 MHz Band) Direction 2015","slug":"radiocommunications-spectrum-licence-limits-regional-1800-mhz-band-direction-2015","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":128575,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2015L00752-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Name of direction","content":"#### 1 Name of direction\n\n  This direction is the Radiocommunications (Spectrum Licence Limits—Regional 1800 MHz Band) Direction 2015.","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement","content":"#### 2 Commencement\n\n  This direction commences on the later of:\n    (a) immediately after the commencement of the re-allocation declaration; and\n    (b) the start of the day after this direction is registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Interpretation","content":"#### 3 Interpretation\n\n  (1) In this direction:\n\n> Act means the Radiocommunications Act 1992.\n\n> associate, in relation to a person, means:\n\n    (a) if the person is a body corporate:\n    (i) a director or secretary of the body; or\n    (ii) a related body corporate; or\n    (iii) a director or secretary of a related body corporate; or\n    (iv) an individual who controls at least 15% of the voting power or holds at least 15% of the issued shares in the body; or\n    (b) if the person is an individual:\n    (i) the individual’s spouse; or\n    (ii) the individual’s de facto partner within the meaning of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901; or\n    (iii) a body corporate in which the individual controls at least 15% of the voting power or holds at least 15% of the issued shares; or\n    (iv) a body corporate of which the individual is a director or secretary; or\n    (v) a body corporate that is a related body corporate in relation to a body corporate of which the individual is a director or secretary; or\n    (c) in all cases—any other person (other than the Commonwealth when represented by the ACMA) who has a relevant agreement with the person that:\n    (i) is for the use by a party to the agreement of spectrum licensed to either of those parties under a spectrum licence for a part of the spectrum referred to in the re-allocation declaration; or\n    (ii) relates to the acquisition of a spectrum licence for a part of the spectrum referred to in the re-allocation declaration.\n\n> carrier has the same meaning as in the Telecommunications Act 1997.\n\n> public mobile telecommunications service has the same meaning as in the Telecommunications Act 1997.\n\n> re-allocation declaration means the Radiocommunications (Spectrum Re-allocation—Regional 1800 MHz Band) Declaration 2015.\n\n> related body corporate has the same meaning as in the Corporations Act 2001.\n\n> relevant agreement means an agreement, arrangement or understanding:\n\n    (a) whether formal or informal or partly formal and partly informal; and\n    (b) whether written or oral or partly written and partly oral; and\n    (c) whether or not having legal or equitable force and whether or not based on legal or equitable rights,\n\n> other that a roaming services agreement or an agreement between carriers provided for by or under the Telecommunications Act 1997 or Part XIC of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.\n\n> roaming services agreement means an agreement between carriers for the principal purpose of enabling end-users of public mobile telecommunications services supplied by another carrier, in geographic locations where the first-mentioned carrier’s public mobile telecommunications services are not available.\n\n> regional Australia has the same meaning as in the re-allocation declaration.\n\n> specified group of persons means an applicant for a spectrum licence and all of the associates of the applicant.\n\n> Note: A number of expressions used in this instrument are defined in the Act, including the following:\n\n    (a) spectrum;\n    (b) spectrum licence.\n  (2) In this direction, a reference to a part of the spectrum includes all frequencies that are greater than the lower frequency, up to and including the higher frequency.\n\n> Note: This means the lower number in the reference to a part of the spectrum is not included in the part of the spectrum.\n\n  (3) In this direction, 2 or more specified groups of persons having 1 member in common are taken to be 1 specified group of persons.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Direction","content":"#### 4 Direction\n\n  I direct the ACMA to determine procedures under subsection 60(1) of the Act that impose limits that ensure that, as a result of the allocation of spectrum licences under Subdivision B of Division 1 of Part 3.2 of the Act in accordance with the re-allocation declaration, no person or specified group of persons may use more than 25 MHz of each of the following parts of the spectrum available in regional Australia:\n    (a) 1725 MHz to 1785 MHz; and\n    (b) 1820 MHz to 1880 MHz.","sortOrder":3}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":5,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"No change to scope from an earlier instrument or to the spectrum bands is indicated in the text. The Direction creates a new cap and instructs ACMA to implement procedures to enforce that cap (s4), and defines who counts as a single economic actor (s3). The instrument does not amend other instruments or expand the bands beyond those specified (s4)."},"complexity_factors":["Detailed definition of “associate” with multiple classes (directors, related bodies corporate, 15% control/share thresholds, spouses/de facto partners, and contractual relationships) increases aggregation complexity (s3).","Wide definition of “relevant agreement” that captures formal, informal, written and oral arrangements (but expressly excludes roaming services agreements and certain carrier agreements) complicates assessment of linked parties (s3).","Aggregation rule that two or more specified groups with one member in common are treated as a single group affects how caps apply to overlapping ownerships (s3(3)).","Direction delegates procedural design to ACMA under subsection 60(1) of the Act, creating implementation discretion and potential variability in how limits are enforced (s4).","Cross‑references to other instruments and statutes (the re‑allocation declaration, Radiocommunications Act 1992, Telecommunications Act 1997, Corporations Act 2001) require coordinated legal interpretation (s3, s4).","Commencement is linked to the timing of the re‑allocation declaration and registration on the Federal Register, adding temporal dependency to when limits apply (s2).","Separate identical caps apply to two distinct frequency blocks, requiring tracking per band rather than a single aggregate cap (s4)."],"plain_english_summary":"This Direction tells the ACMA to set allocation procedures so that, when regional 1800 MHz licences are re‑allocated, no person or ‘specified group’ (an applicant plus their associates) may use more than 25 MHz in each of two bands: 1725–1785 MHz and 1820–1880 MHz. It directly affects licence applicants, their associates and ACMA’s allocation rules by limiting how much spectrum any single party or linked group can obtain during the allocation."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation maintains its original narrow scope. It was always intended as a specific technical direction to ACMA regarding spectrum caps for the regional 1800 MHz band re-allocation, and it does exactly that without expanding into broader telecommunications policy areas."},"complexity_factors":["8 defined terms in section 3, with 'associate' having a complex 3-part definition spanning corporate structures, personal relationships, and contractual arrangements","Cross-references to 4 other Acts: Radiocommunications Act 1992, Telecommunications Act 1997, Corporations Act 2001, and Competition and Consumer Act 2010","Nested conditional logic in the 'associate' definition (if body corporate vs. if individual vs. all cases)","Technical frequency notation requiring explanatory note about inclusive/exclusive boundaries","Rule about overlapping 'specified groups of persons' collapsing into single groups (section 3(3))","Dual commencement trigger requiring coordination with separate re-allocation declaration"],"plain_english_summary":"This ministerial direction requires ACMA to design regional 1800 MHz spectrum auctions that cap any single entity (including associates) at 25 MHz in each of the two paired ranges (1725–1785 MHz uplink and 1820–1880 MHz downlink). It targets telcos buying regional licences to prevent spectrum concentration, preserve competition, and protect consumer choice in rural Australia."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/radiocommunications-spectrum-licence-limits-regional-1800-mhz-band-direction-2015","history":"/api/acts/radiocommunications-spectrum-licence-limits-regional-1800-mhz-band-direction-2015/history","analysis":"/api/acts/radiocommunications-spectrum-licence-limits-regional-1800-mhz-band-direction-2015/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/radiocommunications-spectrum-licence-limits-regional-1800-mhz-band-direction-2015/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/radiocommunications-spectrum-licence-limits-regional-1800-mhz-band-direction-2015/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/radiocommunications-spectrum-licence-limits-regional-1800-mhz-band-direction-2015/documents"}}