Licence Area Plan - Lithgow (Radio) - May 1997

The LAP is organised around a small set of technical and administrative concepts that determine who may broadcast, where, on what frequency and at what technical parameters. The central concepts in the instrument are:

• Service categories and counts. The instrument differentiates service categories: National, Commercial, Community and Open Narrowcasting. Schedule One explicitly lists seven National services, two Commercial services and one Open Narrowcasting service for LITHGOW RA1 (Determination (2) and Schedule One). Schedule Two lists a Community service for LITHGOW RA2 (Determination (3) and Schedule Two).
• Licence area identification. Two licence area identifiers appear: LITHGOW RA1 (Licence Area ID 373) and LITHGOW RA2 (Licence Area ID 702). Each licence area is defined in terms of Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) geography, using Local Government Area and Collection District identifiers as at the 5 August 2001 Census (Attachment 1.1 for RA1 and Attachment 2.1 for RA2). The plan therefore pins service territories to ABS-defined collection districts and the Greater Lithgow LGA.
• Service licences and transmitter specification numbers. Each commercial or community service with a service licence has a service licence number (for example SL10250, SL10279, SL10282). Each transmitter is cross-referenced to a technical specification number (TS numbers), for example TS10004230 for AM 900 kHz (Attachment 1.2), TS1131295 for 101.1 MHz (Attachment 1.3), and TS10001615 for 90.5 MHz community service (Attachment 2.2). These TS numbers are the operative technical references to which transmitter operators must conform.
• Technical parameters. For FM services the instrument records carrier frequency, polarisation, maximum antenna height, and maximum ERP by azimuthal sector or "at all angles of azimuth" (Attachments 1.3, 1.5-1.13). For AM services the instrument sets carrier frequency, emission mode MF-AM and an output radiation pattern in terms of maximum CMF across bearing sectors (Attachment 1.2). For an open narrowcasting service the LAP defines a coverage radius of 10 kilometres measured from specified AMG coordinates (Attachment 1.8 Special Conditions).
• Interference protection thresholds and "interference limited" status. Some services are declared "interference limited", with protection only for field strengths at or above a given level (Attachments 1.3, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11 specify protection at 66 dBuV/m or 74 dBuV/m). That means lower field strengths are not guaranteed protection from interference under this plan’s terms.
• Temporal availability and transitional arrangements. The community service SL10282 is to be available two years after publication of the Gazette notice stating the plan has been made (Determination (3)). Attachment 1.12 contains a transitional condition allowing SL10279's 107.9 MHz specification to replace an earlier frequency (95.3 MHz) within three years of the Gazette notice replacing the plan (Attachment 1.12 Special Conditions).

These concepts are the operational levers of the LAP. The plan is a technical map: it defines who may broadcast within the identified ABS collection districts, what frequencies are allocated, where transmitters may be sited (nominal locations plus AMG coordinates), and the technical ceilings and special conditions such as protected field strengths and coverage radii that determine interference protection and effective coverage.

The LAP identifies a limited set of actors who bear rights and obligations as a direct result of its terms:

• Existing and prospective licence-holders identified by service licence numbers. Commercial operators associated with SL10250 and SL10279 are directly affected by the Schedule One allocations and the transmitter technical specifications attached to those service licence numbers (Schedule One; Attachments 1.2, 1.3, 1.12, 1.13). The community operator SL10282 is affected by Schedule Two and Attachment 2.2, with a specified activation timing (Determination (3), Schedule Two).
• Transmitter owners and technical operators. Each transmitter site is specified by nominal location and AMG coordinates and a TS number. The operator of each transmitter must ensure equipment, antenna height and output radiation pattern comply with the emission mode and ERP/CMF maxima recorded in the corresponding attachment (for example, Attachment 1.2 AM site 3.5 km E of Wallerawang, Attachment 1.12 Mount Lambie FM site). These operators incur the engineering costs of conforming to the specified radiation patterns and sector ERPs.
• The Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) and successors such as the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). The determination was made by the ABA on 14 May 1997 and the compilation is prepared by ACMA (front matter). The ABA/ACMA control availability, amendment and gazettal of the LAP, and are responsible for enforcing the plan under the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (Determination (1) and Notes).
• Spectrum planners and neighbouring broadcasters. Where the plan specifies "interference limited" services and protection thresholds (66 dBuV/m, 74 dBuV/m in Attachments 1.3, 1.9-1.11), neighbouring broadcasters and frequency planners will be affected in terms of where and how they can operate without causing or being subject to interference.
• Local communities and listeners in the listed ABS collection districts. The LAP defines the service area geographically in ABS terms (Attachment 1.1 and Attachment 2.1). The community in Greater Lithgow and the listed CDs will receive a defined set of national, commercial, community and open narrowcasting services at the listed carrier frequencies and within coverage radii and ERP limits.
• Equipment suppliers, engineers and consultants. The technical specificity of the TS attachments creates demand for site surveys, antenna design and compliance verification to meet the radiation pattern and ERP/CMF tables recorded across numerous attachments.
• Regulators and planners using the Technical Planning Guidelines. Several attachments say "Site Tolerance: Refer to Technical Planning Guidelines", so entities using the LAP must consult those guidelines for planning tolerances and minimum service requirements unless a special condition states otherwise (for example Attachment 1.12 states the service is not required to meet the minimum service requirements in the ABA Technical Planning Guidelines).

Who bears the financial cost is implicit in the technical obligations. Licence-holders and transmitter operators pay for equipment and engineering work needed to comply with TS specifications and special conditions. The ABA/ACMA incur administrative costs of gazettal and amendment. Listeners bear no direct fee but experience the effect of coverage radii, protected field strengths and service availability timing.

The LAP allocates rights to broadcast on specific frequencies and imposes technical duties on licence-holders and transmitter operators. The instrument itself prescribes the following duties and attendant rights:

Rights

• Right to operate the listed service in the specified licence area at the listed carrier frequency and under the listed service licence number where applicable. For example, SL10250 is assigned commercial service frequencies 900 kHz and 101.1 MHz in Schedule One (Schedule One, Attachments 1.2 and 1.3). SL10279 is assigned 107.9 MHz and 99.5 MHz (Schedule One, Attachments 1.12 and 1.13). SL10282 is the community service assigned 90.5 MHz in Schedule Two and Attachment 2.2.
• Right to interference protection above specified levels where the LAP declares protection thresholds. Certain services are interference limited and are protected only at or above stated field strengths: Attachments 1.3, 1.9 and 1.10 declare protection only for field strengths of 66 dBuV/m and above; Attachment 1.11 declares protection only at 74 dBuV/m and above. Where a protection threshold is stated, the holder has an explicit right to protection of service quality above that threshold.
• Right to operate on transitional terms where special conditions allow deviations from minimum planning requirements. Attachment 1.12 grants SL10279 permission to transmit with a minimum ERP of 500 W and states the service is not required to meet minimum service requirements in the ABA Technical Planning Guidelines.

Duties

• Duty to operate within the specified technical parameters. Every transmitter is specified with a carrier frequency, emission mode, polarisation and a maximum antenna height and ERP or CMF output radiation pattern which the operator must meet. For an AM transmitter (Attachment 1.2) the duty is to conform to the CMF table across bearings; for FM transmitters the duty is to operate within sectorised ERP maxima (Attachments 1.3, 1.12, etc.).
• Duty to observe special conditions. The open narrowcasting service has a defined "coverage radius" of 10 kilometres measured from the given AMG coordinates and the instrument makes that a special condition (Attachment 1.8). Similarly, services declared "interference limited" carry an implicit duty not to expect protection below the stated field strength.
• Duty to timing and activation. For the community service SL10282, the LAP makes the service available two years after publication of the Gazette notice that the LAP has been made (Determination (3)). That creates a duty on the licence-holder and the regulator to coordinate activation consistent with that timing.
• Duty to observe site tolerances and refer to Technical Planning Guidelines. Each transmitter entry states "Site Tolerance: Refer to Technical Planning Guidelines", making it a duty to apply those guidelines in planning and siting the transmitter.
• Duty to conform to AMP coordinates and nominal locations. Each transmitter is tied to AMG coordinates and a nominal location; operators are required to conform within site tolerances to those nominated positions (Attachments 1.2, 1.3, etc.).

The instrument does not itself set out administrative offence provisions or monetary penalties. It is a plan that creates technical obligations and rights which are enforceable under the legal framework referenced in the Determination (subsection 26(1) of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992), and by implication through the ABA/ACMA’s administrative processes. Parties gain the right to operate at specified frequencies and within defined technical envelopes, and they must meet the detailed transmitter parameters and any special conditions recorded in the attachments and schedules.

The LAP itself does not enumerate penalties, fines or enforcement procedures. It is a statutory determination made under subsection 26(1) of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (Determination (1)), and contains technical and availability provisions, but it does not include express sanctioning language within the text provided. The instrument therefore has the following enforcement and penalty landscape as shown in the source:

• No penalty clauses in the LAP. Nowhere in the text of the Determination, schedules or attachments does the LAP specify administrative penalties, monetary fines, licence cancellation procedures or criminal sanctions. It confines itself to allocation and technical specification of services, frequencies, nominal sites and special conditions (Schedules and Attachments generally).
• Enforcement by reference to the enabling statute and regulatory authority. The LAP is made by the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) and compiled by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (front matter and Determination). Because the document is made under subsection 26(1) of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (Determination (1)), enforcement and sanctions for non-compliance would be expected to arise under the Act and the regulator’s powers, but those enforcement provisions are not included in this instrument and therefore are not stated in the text provided.
• Technical compliance as a de facto enforcement lever. The LAP ties each service to a transmitter specification number (TS numbers such as TS10004230, TS1131295, TS10001615). Compliance with these technical specifications is required to maintain the authorised status of the service in the licence area. Transmitter operators must therefore ensure hardware, ERP, antenna height and radiation patterns match the TS entries, and they must apply site tolerances as directed by "Technical Planning Guidelines" that the LAP repeatedly invokes (for example, each attachment states "Site Tolerance: Refer to Technical Planning Guidelines").
• Special conditions and protection thresholds. The instrument’s statements that certain services are "interference limited" and only protected above given field strengths (66 dBuV/m or 74 dBuV/m) serve as operative constraints on disputes about interference. If a licensee claims interference at field strengths below those thresholds, the LAP’s specification limits the basis for seeking interference protection under the plan for those lower levels (see Attachments 1.3, 1.9-1.11).
• Transitional and minimum service exceptions. Attachment 1.12 explicitly exempts SL10279 from meeting the "minimum service requirements as outlined in the ABA’s Technical Planning Guidelines" and permits a minimum ERP of 500 W. That special condition is a carve-out from otherwise applicable expectations, and the enforcement implication is that the operator of SL10279 cannot be held to those minimum requirements under this LAP, at least for the period and conditions stated.

Practical enforcement therefore depends on regulatory action under the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 and the ABA/ACMA’s administrative powers, together with technical verification against the TS specifications and the Technical Planning Guidelines. The LAP sets the technical standards and availability timing that the regulator will rely on when determining whether a broadcaster is operating legitimately within the licence area; it does not itself set the penalties or describe procedural enforcement steps.

The LAP expressly situates itself within broader statutory and administrative instruments and references other planning material. From the instrument text, the interactions are as follows:

• Broadcasting Services Act 1992. The Determination states the LAP is made under subsection 26(1) of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (Determination (1)). That is the legal foundation of the plan. The LAP therefore operates as an exercise of powers conferred by that Act and must be read subject to that enabling legislation. The LAP does not reproduce the Act, nor does it set out the enforcement, licensing or content obligations contained in the Act; those remain in the Broadcasting Services Act and associated regulations.
• Technical Planning Guidelines. Each transmitter attachment includes "Site Tolerance: Refer to Technical Planning Guidelines". The Technical Planning Guidelines provide detailed engineering tolerances and minimum service requirements in relation to site siting, radiation patterns and interference management. The LAP cross‑references those Guidelines; for example, Attachment 1.12 expressly modifies the application of the Guidelines by stating the service is not required to meet the minimum service requirements as outlined in the ABA’s Technical Planning Guidelines. Practitioners must therefore read the LAP in tandem with those Guidelines to know which technical rules apply and where exceptions exist.
• Australian Bureau of Statistics geography. Licence area boundaries are defined by ABS collection districts and Local Government Area designations as of the Census of 5 August 2001 (Attachment 1.1 and Attachment 2.1). This ties the LAP’s territorial effect to ABS-defined geographic units; changes in later ABS definitions or non-ABS geographic measures are not reflected in this plan unless the plan is amended.
• Commonwealth of Australia Gazette and FRLI registration. The LAP and its amendments are governed by formal publication and commencement dates recorded in the Notes to the licence area plan (for example, the original May 1997 plan was gazetted 18 June 1997, Variation of December 1999 22 December 1999, and Variation No. 1 of 2008 registered 6 May 2008 and commenced 7 May 2008). The Gazette notice is also the trigger for timing provisions in the LAP, specifically the two year delay for SL10282 activation (Determination (3)) and the three year replacement window for SL10279’s frequency replacement (Attachment 1.12).
• Regulatory compilations and successor agency practice. The front matter notes the compilation was prepared by ACMA on 28 April 2008 taking account of amendments up to Variation No. 1 of 2008. This shows administrative practice for maintaining an up-to-date LAP falls to the regulator and that successive instruments (the ABA and later ACMA) administer these plans.
• Technical standards and electromagnetic regulations not reproduced. The LAP does not reproduce or amend broader Commonwealth technical standards, electromagnetic radiation safety laws, planning approvals under state or local law, or other telecommunications spectrum arrangements; compliance with those laws remains a separate requirement alongside adherence to the LAP. The LAP frequently instructs operators to refer to the Technical Planning Guidelines for site tolerances, implying interaction with more detailed technical instruments.

In short, the LAP is an instrument that slots into a regulatory architecture: it is made under the Broadcasting Services Act 1992, cross‑references the ABA/ACMA Technical Planning Guidelines, fixes service areas using ABS geography at a fixed census date, and operates via Gazette publication and FRLI registration steps to set commencement and transitional timelines.

The LAP contains an explicit amendment record and a Table of Instruments that catalogue how the plan has been altered since its original making. The source provides the following amendment timeline and particulars:

• Original instrument. Licence Area Plan - Lithgow Radio - May 1997, gazetted 18 June 1997, commenced 18 June 1997. That is recorded in the Notes to the licence area plan Table of Instruments.
• Variation, December 1999. A Licence Area Plan Variation dated December 1999 was registered and commenced 22 December 1999 (Table of Instruments). The amendment table records several additions in 1999 such as attachments added in December 1999 and amendments to attachments (Table of Amendments).
• Variation No. 1 of 2008. Licence Area Plan - Lithgow Radio - Variation No. 1 of 2008 is recorded as registered on 6 May 2008 (F2008L01314) and commenced 7 May 2008 (Table of Instruments). The compilation was prepared by ACMA on 28 April 2008 taking into account amendments up to that variation.
• Specific clause and attachment amendments. The Table of Amendments sets out which parts were added, amended, repealed or substituted by No. 1 of 2008 and by earlier instruments. Examples from the table include:
  • Clause (1) was amended by No.1 of 2008;
  • Clause (2) amended by No.1 of 2008;
  • Clause (3) amended by No.1 of 2008;
  • Clause (4) added by No.1 of 2008;
  • Attachment 1.1 amended and repealed/replaced by No.1 of 2008;
  • Attachment 1.3 amended by No.1 of 2008 and replaced by No.1 of 2008;
  • Attachment 1.9, 1.10, 1.11, 1.12, 1.13 were added by No.1 of 2008;
  • Attachment 2.1 was repealed and substituted by No.1 of 2008;
  • Attachments 3.1-3.4 show a history of being added in Dec 1999 and repealed by No.1 of 2008 (Table of Amendments).
• Transitional provisions recorded in attachments. Attachment 1.12 contains a transitional special condition that the 107.9 MHz specification will replace a prior 95.3 MHz frequency "at a date within three years after publication of the Gazette notice that the Lithgow radio LAP has been varied" (Attachment 1.12 Special Conditions). That is itself a temporal amendment mechanism allowing staged frequency replacement.
• Publication and compilation record. The cover notes the compilation was prepared by ACMA on 28 April 2008 taking into account amendments up to Variation No. 1 of 2008. The Notes to the licence area plan contain the Table of Instruments and a Table of Amendments that document which clauses and attachments were added, amended, or repealed and by which instrument.

The amendment history in the source is a formal record of iterative technical and territorial changes to the plan, and it attaches special conditions and transitional arrangements to particular attachments. Practitioners must consult the Table of Amendments to determine which attachments were in force at particular times and whether frequency replacements or exemptions applied during the transitional windows set by the instrument.

The instrument as provided contains no record of litigation. The compilation, determination text, schedules, attachments, Notes to the licence area plan and the Table of Amendments do not cite any court decisions, appeals, or judicial reviews in relation to this LAP. From the contents of the source:

• No cases named. There are no court or tribunal decisions referenced anywhere in the LAP, schedules or attachments.
• No appeals recorded in the instrument. The Notes, Table of Instruments and Table of Amendments document administrative amendments and variations but do not record litigation outcomes or procedural challenges.
• No dispute adjudications shown. Where the LAP sets interference protection thresholds and special conditions, it does not record any past adjudications or enforcement actions arising from those conditions in this compilation.

Consequently, if a practitioner requires litigation history or judicial interpretation of the LAP’s terms, that material is not present in this instrument and must be sought in external repositories of case law, tribunal records or regulatory decision notices. The LAP itself is an administrative technical instrument and the source compilation contains only the plan, its attachments and an administrative amendment history, without litigation annotations.

The LAP contains several specific technical, timing and drafting features that can produce practical traps for licensees, engineers and planners unless carefully observed. The source text identifies a number of concrete "gotchas":

• Activation timing for the community service. Schedule Two and Determination (3) make the community service SL10282 "to be available two years after publication of the notice in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette stating this licence area plan has been made." If a party assumes immediate activation after gazettal, they may be wrong; the LAP creates a two-year delay. Practitioners must check the Gazette date and calculate the two-year trigger precisely.
• Interference limited declarations and protection thresholds. Several attachments label a service "interference limited" and state that "only field strength levels of 66 dBuV/m and above will be protected from interference" or similar (Attachments 1.3, 1.9, 1.10 state 66 dBuV/m; Attachment 1.11 states 74 dBuV/m). That means below the stated dBuV/m level a licensee has no protection under this LAP. In interference disputes, relying on protection below those thresholds will likely fail.
• Special minimum ERP carve‑out. Attachment 1.12 gives SL10279 a special condition: the service "is not required to meet the minimum service requirements as outlined in the ABA’s Technical Planning Guidelines" and "is permitted to transmit with a minimum ERP of 500W." If an engineer assumes the standard minimum ERP from the Guidelines applies, they will be wrong for SL10279; the LAP provides an explicit exemption and a lower permitted minimum ERP.
• Three year replacement window. Attachment 1.12 states the 107.9 MHz specification will replace the frequency 95.3 MHz "at a date within three years after publication of the Gazette notice that the Lithgow radio LAP has been varied." That creates a window within which frequency changes may occur. Operators expecting immediate or indefinite retention of the earlier frequency should note the planned replacement window and plan equipment and contractual arrangements accordingly.
• Coverage radius for open narrowcasting. Attachment 1.8 defines the coverage radius of the open narrowcasting transmitter as 10 kilometres measured from a specified AMG point. Open narrowcasting holders and advertisers should not assume broader reach; the LAP fixes a tight coverage limit.
• Site tolerance references. Each attachment instructs "Site Tolerance: Refer to Technical Planning Guidelines". The LAP does not itself state the tolerances. Engineers must consult the Technical Planning Guidelines to know acceptable site deviations; failing to do so could lead to non‑compliance even if an installation seems to match the LAP coordinates.
• Multiple services collocated on the same nominal transmitter site with differing special conditions. Reservoir Hill in Lithgow is used for multiple services (Attachments 1.6, 1.8, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11, 2.2), with differing carrier frequencies, ERP maxima and protection thresholds. Collocated services may create mutual interference risks and require careful technical separation and coordination with the Technical Planning Guidelines.
• Ambiguity about enforcement mechanisms. The LAP sets technical rules but does not contain penalty clauses. Parties may misinterpret the plan as self-enforcing; in practice enforcement will be via the ABA/ACMA under the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 and associated administrative processes, none of which are reproduced here.
• Census date lock for licence area definition. Licence areas are defined in terms of ABS collection districts at the Census of 5 August 2001. Changes in population distribution or later ABS changes are not reflected without amendment to the LAP; licensees should not assume the licence area boundary will automatically track newer ABS classifications.

Those features are not merely drafting curiosities, they affect engineering choices, commercial agreements, interference risk allocation and planning timelines. For example, the exemption for SL10279 from minimum planning requirements may reduce immediate capital expenditure but also narrow interference protection; the community service activation delay can affect programming and fundraising timelines.

Compliance with the LAP requires attention to technical specifications, timing triggers, special conditions and cross‑referenced planning guidelines. The source enables a practical compliance checklist grounded in its own provisions:

1. Confirm the licence area and service licence number(s).
   • Check whether the service is in LITHGOW RA1 or RA2 (Attachment 1.1 for RA1, Attachment 2.1 for RA2). Confirm the applicable service licence number matches the Schedule (SL10250, SL10279, SL10282).
2. Match the correct transmitter specification (TS number).
   • For each service you intend to operate, identify the TS specification number in the Schedule (for example TS10004230 for AM 900 kHz; TS1131295 for FM 101.1 MHz). All technical obligations are keyed to those TS entries.
3. Install and tune transmitters to the stated carrier frequency and emission mode.
   • Operate at the exact carrier frequency set in the attachment and the stated emission mode (FM VHF or MF‑AM). Do not deviate without an amendment to the LAP.
4. Comply with ERP/CMF limits and radiation pattern.
   • Implement antenna systems and transmitter power so that maximum ERP or CMF values by azimuthal sector are not exceeded. For AM, ensure CMF values across specified bearings match the AM table in Attachment 1.2. For FM, ensure ERP in each sector does not exceed the stated maxima (Attachments 1.3, 1.12, etc.). Keep engineering documentation proving compliance.
5. Respect antenna height and polarisation limits.
   • Install antennas at or below the stated maximum antenna height and adopt the stated polarisation (e.g. "Mixed") for FM attachments. For example, maximum antenna height 60 m for TS1131295 in Attachment 1.3.
6. Observe special conditions.
   • If the service is marked "interference limited", understand protection only applies above the stated dBuV/m threshold (e.g. 66 or 74 dBuV/m). For open narrowcasting, ensure coverage does not exceed the 10 km radius recorded in Attachment 1.8. For SL10279 note the exemption from minimum service requirements and the permitted minimum ERP of 500 W in Attachment 1.12.
7. Apply Technical Planning Guidelines.
   • For site tolerance and planning minutiae, consult the ABA/ACMA Technical Planning Guidelines referenced on every attachment. The LAP repeatedly refers operators to those Guidelines; they supply the tolerances and minimum service criteria unless the attachment explicitly waives them.
8. Adhere to Gazette-triggered timelines.
   • For services whose availability depends on Gazette publication, compute activation dates accurately. SL10282 is to become available two years after the Gazette notice stating the LAP has been made (Determination (3)). SL10279's replacement of 95.3 MHz with 107.9 MHz must occur within three years after the relevant Gazette notice (Attachment 1.12).
9. Keep records and evidence.
   • Maintain site drawings, AMG coordinate logs, ERP measurement reports, and emissions testing results tied to the TS specification numbers to demonstrate compliance in any regulatory inspection or interference dispute.
10. Coordinate collocated services.
    • Where multiple services share nominal transmitter sites (for instance Reservoir Hill), ensure internal frequency coordination, appropriate filtering and intermodulation analysis is done to prevent internal interference and to respect each attachment’s ERP/CMF constraints.
11. Monitor amendments.
    • Review the Table of Instruments and Table of Amendments (Notes to the licence area plan) to ensure you are operating under the current attachments and that you have implemented any changes introduced by Variation No. 1 of 2008 or later amendments. The compilation records which attachments have been added, amended, or repealed.
12. Engage regulator early on deviations.
    • If operational needs require deviations from the LAP (for example temporary site relocation outside declared tolerances), apply to the ABA/ACMA rather than proceeding without approval, since the LAP is issued under the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 and the regulator controls availability and amendments.

Following this checklist aligns practical engineering and administrative steps with the LAP’s text. The LAP itself sets the technical standards and availability timing; compliance consists of matching on‑site technical reality to the TS numbers and special conditions and using the Technical Planning Guidelines for implementation details.