Latest from ACMA: EME Checker launched, Comms Connect talk

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) will be presenting a regulatory update at Comms Connect Melbourne next month, giving attendees an overview of the many changes that have been made to the Radiocommunications Reform & Modernisation Act.

The amendments made by the Modernisation Act are designed to add flexibility to the way we manage spectrum; provide greater clarity to licensees; simplify and streamline spectrum management and planning processes; and ensure that spectrum management is fit for purpose in a challenging, dynamic environment. The provisions of the Modernisation Act came into force on 17 June 2021, with the ACMA outlining its role in implementing the new arrangements in an addendum to its Five-year spectrum outlook 2020–24.

The regulatory update will be held at Comms Connect Melbourne from 12 noon to 12.30 pm on 19 October. For information on this and other presentations, visit https://melbourne.comms-connect.com.au/program/.

Meanwhile, the ACMA has launched a new online EME Checker that Australians can use to check the levels of electromagnetic energy (EME) being emitted from a selection of mobile base stations in Victoria and NSW. The tool uses data from measurements completed by the ACMA at these base stations during 2021 and 2022.

EME is all around us and is part of our natural environment, emitted by sources like the Sun, the Earth, the Earth’s atmosphere and even the human body. Telecommunications infrastructure also produces EME, and all mobile phone base stations in Australia must meet Australian standards. Under these standards, the ACMA checks telcos are complying with EME exposure limits set by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA).

With the new EME Checker, people can choose from a dropdown list of locations to view the average and maximum EME recorded at sites that have been measured. They can also compare data across sites and check against ARPANSA limits. Additional locations will be added to EME Checker as the ACMA continues to measure telecommunications sites across Australia.

The ACMA has also published audits into EME compliance, including measurement data taken from 129 5G-enabled base station sites across NSW. The results showed all measurements recorded were less than 1.2% of the ARPANSA limit, and a majority of sites were under 1% of the limit. The audits also showed all telcos met their obligations under the 2020 Mobile Phone Base Station Deployment Code.

The EME Checker is now live on the ACMA website and the results of the EME compliance audits have also been published.

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