Priority compliance area

Radiocommunications transmitter licensing compliance program report

AUGUST 2016

Contents

Canberra

Red Building Benjamin OfficesChan Street Belconnen ACT

PO Box 78Belconnen ACT 2616

T+61 2 6219 5555F+61 2 6219 5353

Melbourne

Level 32 Melbourne Central Tower360 Elizabeth Street Melbourne VIC

PO Box 13112Law Courts Melbourne VIC 8010

T+61 3 9963 6800F+61 3 9963 6899

Sydney

Level 5 The Bay Centre65 Pirrama Road Pyrmont NSW

PO Box Q500Queen Victoria Building NSW 1230

T+61 2 9334 7700 or 1800 226 667F+61 2 9334 7799

Copyright notice

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/

With the exception of coats of arms, logos, emblems, images, other third-party material or devices protected by a trademark, this content is licensed under the Creative Commons Australia Attribution 3.0 Licence.

We request attribution as: Commonwealth of Australia (Australian Communications and Media Authority) 2016.

All other rights are reserved.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has undertaken reasonable enquiries to identify material owned by third parties and secure permission for its reproduction. Permission may need to be obtained from third parties to re-use their material.

Written enquiries may be sent to:

Manager, Editorial and DesignPO Box 13112Law CourtsMelbourne VIC 8010Tel: 03 9963 6968Email: candinfo@acma.gov.au

Executive summary1

The compliance program2

Methodology3

Data extraction and analysis3

Stakeholder engagement and communications3

Targeting operators and suppliers of RFID devices3

Targeting area-wide licensees and their third party users4

Infographics and blog5

Auditing6

Third party audits of area-wide licensees6

Standards audits6

Signal monitoring7

Field program7

Escalated compliance investigations8

Compliance program conclusions9

Contents (Continued)

Contents (Continued)

acma |iii

acma |iv

acma |v

Executive summary

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) identified compliance with radiocommunications transmitter licensing arrangements as a priority compliance area (PCA) for the 2015-16 financial year. The ACMA subsequently implemented a robust compliance program to improve compliance. The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary of the activities conducted and achievements.

The PCA focus areas were:

the import and sale of devices configured for overseas markets by Australian suppliers. In particular, devices operating in the 902-915 MHz frequency range.

authorisation of third-party users by land mobile licensees authorised to operate within a geographic area.

The activities implemented were tailored to these focus areas and used non-regulatory and regulatory approaches for improving compliance. These included:

data extraction and analysis

stakeholder engagement and communications

auditing

monitoring

field program

escalated compliance investigations.

Stakeholder engagement was an important component of this PCA program. The ACMA sought to encourage a meaningful dialogue between the ACMA and industry about compliance issues. Through this PCA program, partnerships were developed with influential industry organisations which resulted in the ACMA extending its regulatory reach beyond its traditional capabilities. The results of these industry partnerships were a highlight of this PCA.

A real impact has been made through the PCA program. The targeted nature of the programs activities has improved the compliance practices within industry and laid the foundation for long-term change.

The compliance program

As the majority of radiocommunications licensees operate their devices lawfully, the ACMA focused its attention on the areas presenting systemic compliance issues. The focus areas included:

Australian suppliers importing and selling devices configured for overseas markets. The ACMA was particularly concerned about suppliers selling devices operating on 902-915 MHz that, if properly configured, would be licensed to operate from 915-928 MHz under the Radiocommunications (Low Interference Potential Devices) Class Licence 2015 (the LIPD Class Licence)

land mobile licensees authorised to operate within a geographic area who do not properly authorise and administer third-party users under the terms of the ACMA issued licence.

The ACMA sets its PCAs for technical compliance after gathering intelligence about compliance issues and assessing the level of risk. It is through this analysis that the systemic compliance issues requiring a robust compliance response are identified. This approach enables the ACMA to effectively focus its resources on higher-risk issues while continuing to monitor and appropriately respond to lower-level risks. It was through this analysis that the two focus areas for this PCA were identified.

The ACMA had responded to a number of cases of radiocommunications devices causing interference to mobile networks, where operation of the device would generally be licensed under the LIPD Class Licence. These devices were operating on frequency ranges allowed by other countries, however in Australia, the frequency ranges are licensed for mobile phone use. The PCA program focused its attention on the compliance activities of Australian operators and suppliers of radio identification (RFID) devices, as well as other high-risk devices.

Land mobile apparatus licensees whose licences are issued on an area-wide basis (area-wide licensees)[footnoteRef:1] were targeted because of the number of investigations conducted during 2014-2015. These licensees had allowed third-party users to operate under their licence, but had not appropriately issued a written authorisation on the same terms as their ACMA apparatus licence. These actions resulted in other radiocommunications users being adversely affected by interference. [1: The term area-wide is used to describe land mobile apparatus licences which are authorised to operate within a specific geographical area, as opposed to a fixed site. This may include a city, state, the whole of Australia or another area. It is a condition of these licences that the licensee and third-party users operating under the licence must not cause interference to other users, nor will they be protected if another service interferes with them. The licensees must ensure that authorised third-party users do not cause interference to fixed licence services.]

In order to improve compliance in these areas, the ACMA implemented a diverse program which used regulatory and non-regulatory approaches.

Methodology

The ACMA used the following approaches for the compliance program:

data extraction and analysis

stakeholder engagement and communications

auditing

monitoring

field program

escalated compliance investigations.

Data extraction and analysis

ACMA staff extracted licensing data on >17,000 current land mobile licences which had been issued on an area-wide basis. This data was then analysed in order to refine the results to high-risk licensees.

The analysis parameters included:

identifying licensees known to the ACMA through previous compliance activities

analysing patterns of licensing data (i.e. multiple licences held)

eliminating organisations that do not authorise third parties, for example, schools, church organisations and broadcasters.

This analysis informed the stakeholder engagement and auditing activities conducted.

Stakeholder engagement and communications

During 2015-16, the ACMAs overarching technical compliance program made stakeholder engagement a key focus. In accordance with this development, this PCA program sought to encourage a meaningful dialogue between government and industry about technical regulation and compliance. The ACMA concentrated its activities within the scope of the PCA focus areas.

Targeting operators and suppliers of RFID devices

In order to identify relevant industry groups to engage through the PCA, the ACMA researched RFID applications in the 900 MHz band.[footnoteRef:2] The results of this research found that the types of applications varied greatly and there was no peak industry body for suppliers in Australia. The fragmented nature of RFID applications presented a barrier for reaching high risk operators and suppliers. [2: The 900 MHz band is considered high risk for non-compliance. This largely due to the ISM allocation in the United States (902-928 MHz) which is not harmonised in Australia.]

The Institute of Instrumentation, Control and Automation (the IICA) emerged as a relevant industry group for reaching suppliers and operators of RFID enabled equipment in the 900 MHz band. The IICA is a conduit for bringing together the control and automation industry and represents a broad member base (from engineers to suppliers, installers and operators). The ACMA formed a partnership with the IICA through this PCA.

Through this partnership, we were able to extend our regulatory reach through different forums including the:

Geelong Technology Expo: On 2 March 2016, two ACMA inspectors attended this expo, made contact with suppliers of interest, answered compliance and labelling questions and promoted the joint technical tune-up in Melbourne

Melbourne technical tune-up (pilot): On 12 April 2016, the IICA hosted a technical tune-up in partnership with the ACMA. The evening focused on wireless communications and plant safety. Over 30 IICA members attended, this being above average attendance for the IICA

Perth technical tune-up: Following the success of the pilot, the ACMA co-hosted a technical tune-up in Perth on 1 July 2016. Thirty-five IICA members attended the evening.

In addition to the above activities, the ACMA published information on its website providing guidance to RFID suppliers about compliance and their supplier obligations.[footnoteRef:3] The new web content received 112 views during the period 9 March to 12 May 2016. The technical tune-ups were also promoted through the ACMAs social media accounts. [3: www.acma.gov.au/Industry/Suppliers/Product-supply-and-compliance/Commonly-supplied-equipment/rfid-devices ]

Targeting area-wide licensees and their third party users

Stakeholder engagement

The Australian Radio Communications Association (ARCIA) was identified as a key stakeholder whose position within the two-way radio industry could add significant value to the outcomes of the PCA. ARCIA is the peak national industry body representing the two-way and associated wireless radio communications industry in Australia. Through this PCA, the ACMA strengthened its relationship with ARCIA.

Achievements of this relationship included ARCIA:

conducting a technical tune-up in partnership with the ACMA on 30 June 2016 in Perth. The ACMA presented on PCA-related matters, including area-wide licensing issues and third party authorisation management, amongst other matters.

presenting as guest speaker at the IICA/ACMA technical tune-ups in Melbourne and Perth. ARCIA provided a valuable industry voice and reinforced the importance of compliance

distributing infographics at key industry events across Australia, including:

BICSI South Pacific conference in Sydney (23-25 May 2016)

Comms Connect conferences in Sydney (22-23 June 2016), Brisbane (27 July 2016) and Melbourne (22-24 November 2016)

Opportunistically at other ARCIA events across the nation

reviewing and providing industry feedback on the draft infographics before broader circulation

forwarding the third party authorisation blog to major industry publication Critical Comms which resulted in publication on their website

publishing the infographic Is your two-way an outlaw and article in ARCIAs member e-newsletter (February edition)

supporting the launch of both infographics by retweeting ACMA content and promoting through ARCIAs LinkedIn group.

Other communications

The other communications activities targeting area-wide licensees included:

developing and distributing two infographics and complementing web content

publishing a blog providing practical guidance to land mobile licensees

conducting three educational presentation sessions for two-way radio suppliers.

These activities are detailed further below.

Infographics and blog

Infographics are a useful tool for presenting information in an engaging manner. Two infographics were developed during the PCA, each complemented by accompanying web content. The purpose of these infographics was to educate land mobile licensees and third party users about the written authorisation requirement and the types of matters that should be communicated by the licensee. These infographics can be accessed at:

Is your two-way radio an outlaw?

Do you sell or rent two-way radios?

In order to further assist industry to understand its obligations for managing third parties, the ACMA published a blog on its website providing practical guidance to land mobile apparatus licensees. During the period 5 April to 17 May 2016, this blog had received 220 page views.

These educational resources were promoted through a variety of methods, including:

posting on ACMA social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn)

distributing by ARCIA through various activities

publishing in a number of industry communications, including:

Critical Comms website

Building Connection magazine (winter-16 edition). Circulation 53,608 Australia-wide

Master Builders Associations (MBA) member publications in the Australian Capital Territory, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania. MBA membership represents 95% of all sectors of the building industry

Traffic Management Association of Australia (TMAA) Detours magazine (April-16). The TMAA is the national peak body for the traffic management industry representing all Australian state-based traffic management associations

e-mailing to 34 Accredited Persons

publishing in the ACMAs Accredited Persons e-bulletin (April 2016). This e-bulletin has over 500 subscribers

mailing out to 65 land mobile apparatus licensees

e-mailing directly to industry contacts

handing directly to licensees and operators through the field program.

Educating two-way radio suppliers

The ACMA was invited to conduct three in-house educational presentations for two-way radio suppliers. These suppliers had shown a strong willingness to comply, but unfortunately instances of non-compliance continued to occur. These invitations demonstrated industrys willingness to engage with the ACMA on compliance through an educational approach. These presentations were very successful, with attendees being highly engaged and asking a large number of questions on a variety of topics.

AuditingThird party audits of area-wide licensees

Many ACMA clients purchase large quantities of area-wide licences to hire out to end-users. In many cases, these licensees rent or supply radiocommunications equipment with their area-wide frequencies already programmed into the equipment. To ensure that the end user is not operating a radiocommunications device without a licence, a licensee is required under sections 114 and 117 of the Radiocommunications Act 1992 (the Act) to authorise the third party in writing to use their licences and to keep copies of those authorisations.

Through the data extraction and analysis process, 39 area-wide licensees were identified for audit. The ACMA subsequently wrote to these licensees seeking their response on the third parties authorised under their licence. The purpose of this letter was two-fold: the responses obtained would indicate the industrys compliance standing, and the ACMA would raise industry awareness about its requirements.

The responses indicated that industrys understanding of their obligations under section 114 and 117 of the Act is poor. Numerous enquiries were received in response to this letter seeking clarification. During these calls, ACMA staff spent time educating these licensees towards an acceptable compliance outcome.

Industry practices suggest that a number of radiocommunications equipment is rented without adequate written authorisation or education to the third party user.

In light of the poor industry understanding of third party authorisation obligations an education letter was sent to an additional 65 area-wide licensees.

The results of the 39 area-wide licence audits are in Table 1.

Area-wide licence audits

Audit results

No.

No authorisations given

12

Authorisations given and produced

20

Authorisations given but no copies had been retained

7

TOTAL

39

Standards audits

The use of targeted auditing as a tool for assessing an industrys compliance standing is well-tested. In October 2015, ACMA staff contacted 19 suppliers of RFID products in the 900 MHz band with a view of proceeding to audit. Following this initial contact, 12 standards audits were commenced.

The standards audits conducted meant that:

suppliers identified at random were selected by the product description on their company website and whether it could potentially operate on 902-915 MHz

suppliers were targeted based on interference complaints that were found to have been caused by RFID devices operating outside of the frequencies permitted under the LIPD Class Licence. These interference cases were investigated before the commencement of this PCA.

While the suppliers audited generally demonstrated a strong willingness to comply, the majority of responses showed a lack of interest to review and understand their compliance requirements. This resulted in a large proportion of administrative failures, rather than product non-compliance. In accordance with ACMAs escalated compliance approach, these suppliers were issued warning notices. However, time was spent with each supplier explaining the nature of the failure and the steps required to comply.

The results of the RFID audit program are shown in Table 2.

RFID audit program results

Pass

Fail

Audit N/A

Random

2

5

2

Targeted

3

2

5

TOTAL

5

7

7

Signal monitoring

The ACMA conducted a pilot program to determine if signal monitoring of low powered RFID devices was possible. Low powered monitoring was conducted using portable RFeyes in Darwin and Melbourne during November and December 2015. Although non-compliant equipment could be seen operating between 900-915 MHz, the RFID spectrum signature was not specific enough to limit monitoring to out-of-band RFID devices.

This monitoring will continue in the 2016-17 financial year in order to obtain more conclusive results.

Field program

Field monitoring is a powerful tool for obtaining real-time intelligence on non-compliance. Building on information received through earlier PCA activities, a field program was developed.

From 12 April 2016 to 31 May 2016 targeted field activity was conducted in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. The focus of this program was to detect the level of services operating under third party authorisations that had not been initially targeted by the auditing program.

During this period 32 inspections were conducted with 13 unlicensed operators observed. The following was noted by ACMA field staff about the nature of the unlicensed operation:

some operators had only been in the area for a short period of time before detection occurred

other operators were utilising site specific licenses at a specific location on a permanent basis

many users were operating on area-wide licences for periods longer than the recommended four weeks.

Escalated compliance investigations

The ACMA adopts an escalated approach to investigating instances of non-compliance. During the PCA there were 65 compliance investigations raised, the resulting compliance enforcement actions (CEAs) are shown in Table 3.

Compliance enforcement actions

CEA type

Number

Amount

Warning notices issued

900 MHz non-compliance

45

Area-wide licensee non-compliance

12

Infringement notices issued

900 MHz non-compliance

2

$3,500

Area-wide licensee non-compliance

8

$20,450

TOTAL

67

$23,950

The ACMA gave infringement notices in cases where the:

entity had been warned previously

entity had not taken reasonable steps to ensure that third party compliance records were maintained

entity was an industry leader and ought to have known its compliance responsibilities

interference was caused to the mobile phone network which has the potential to risk public safety

entity had not taken reasonable steps to ensure that its RFID products operated within the parameters of the LIPD Class Licence

entity had not taken steps to assist its client to operate within the permitted frequency bands of the LIPD Class Licence

entity was aware that the RFID operated outside of the frequencies permitted by the LIPD Class Licence, supplied it regardless of this knowledge and did not advise its customer of this.

Compliance program conclusions

Snapshot of the ACMAs PCA outcomes

Improving the compliance practices of an industry is often a long-term process, one which extends beyond the life of a PCA. However, through this program the ACMA has laid the foundation for real behavioural change and improved compliance practices. Prior to the PCA, industry awareness about RFID compliance and the issues associated with authorising third parties under an area-wide land mobile licence was poor. Through the diverse program implemented, the ACMA has had a meaningful impact in which the activities conducted and benefits derived will continue into the future.

This year, the PCA program made partnering with key industry organisations central to the approach. These relationships and the activities conducted enabled the ACMA to extend its regulatory reach beyond its traditional capabilities. The ACMA will continue to work with these organisations and nurture these mutually beneficial relationships.

The following observations were made during this program:

RFID compliance in the 900 MHz LIPD Class Licence band

Although the pass rate of the RFID supplier audits was low, the risk associated with these fails was purely administrative and therefore rated low risk.

Industry responded exceptionally well with ACMAs partnerships with the IICA to deliver tailored compliance messages about risks associated with radiocommunications non-compliance.

Area-wide licences/third party authorisations

The infographics, blog and complementing web material have been invaluable for educating industry about its compliance obligations. As understanding of third party arrangements within the industry remains an issue, these materials will be of assistance into the future.

Even major radiocommunications specialists who base their businesses on hiring radios and corresponding frequencies were largely unaware of their compliance obligations.

The relationship developed with ARCIA added significant value by enabling the ACMA to permeate the two-way radio industry. This key stakeholder relationship will assist the ACMA to continue its work on improving the compliance practices of industry beyond this PCA.

The ACMA will continue to monitor the results of this PCA program and incorporate the lessons learnt into its compliance programs for 2016-17.

10|acma

acma |7

AustralianCommunicationsand Media Authority