Energy sector told to get its act together for smart grid spectrum

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 24 March 2010 16:27

IT Policy - Regulation

The ACMA's chairman has warned Australia's energy industry that it needs to come up with a harmonised set of requirements for smart grid spectrum, or face losing out to other industries.

In an address to the National Smart Grid Forum in Sydney, ACMA chairman, Chris Chapman, said: "There does not appear to be any agreement across the energy industry on a preferred frequency band to meet its spectrum requirements for smart grids.

"Different utilities have provided the ACMA with different indications of the frequency bands that they would like to access for their roll-out. If a unified Australian energy sector could agree on a band, or small suite of bands, into which it would like to deploy these enabling technologies, the sector's access to the spectrum would be greatly facilitated."

Chapman said the ACMA had been following developments in smart grid technology and implementation for some time and "we also know that each utility has its own individual wants and needs in applying information and communication technologies to these grids.

"The ACMA believes that it is important to tackle the issue of spectrum access for smart grids early on and develop a unified, nationwide approach to ensure maximum benefit for the Australian community. In identifying and understanding the problem early, we will also be able to provide robust advice to Government as it more broadly considers the needs and benefits of smart infrastructure."

And he warned that "Given the spectrum landscape into which we're all heading, multiple disconnected standards are really problematic and if the smart infrastructure community (including the electricity industry) fails to develop a strong united argument for spectrum access, it runs the risk of missing out and having to go to market. This could be very expensive for you…"

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