The Government has offered Australia's three mobile operators, and vividwireless, renewal of their existing spectrum allocated on 15 year licences in the late 90s and early 2000s at set prices, while the Government expects to rake in $3 billion.
Was Optus D1 satellite a crippled bird?
In November 2006, Crikey reported that the $US140 million D1 satellite was "suffering from what the company describes as a 'configuration problem'" that "could affect the services to New Zealand's 650,000 pay TV homes..[and] may also cause flow-on issues with a range of Australian clients including the behind the scenes operations of Australian television networks including the ABC, Nine Network, Network Seven and SBS."
The report said: "Satellite enthusiasts are speculating that Optus D1's main New Zealand transponders may have been designed on the wrong polarity – meaning that they are effectively pointing the wrong way to be received in many New Zealand homes. Optus could neither confirm nor deny this."
A satellite industry insider told iTWire at the time: "My intelligence from the insurers indicates that the problem is indeed related to polarisation and there is likely to be a partial loss claim."
Another source told iTWire: "What appears to have happened is that the New Zealand spot beam on the new D1 satellite has been configured to the wrong polarity and apparently even if all LNBs [low noise block downconverters] throughout NZ were re-aligned (a major task for Sky) the signal would be 6dBW down on the original spec."
An LNB is basically a very efficient amplifier which converts the satellite frequencies (11-12 GHz in Ku-band) down to a lower frequency which can more efficiently be transmitted on a coaxial cable into the home. It is a small box that sits at the focal point of the dish. A 6dB reduction represents a 75 percent reduction in power, so would be quite serious. However another source said that the changes neede to the LND would not require a truck roll.
A contemporary Television NZ news report on the issue can be found here.
David Bass
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