New Australian 60m Band

Although the updated Australian Radiofrequency Spectrum Plan commences on the first of January – the Australian Communications and Media Authority has many T’s to cross and many I’s to dot before we can begin to use the new 60 metre Amateur band at 5.3 megahertz.

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), at the World Radiocommunication Conference in November 2015 (WRC-15), approved the worldwide allocation of 5351.5 to 5366.5 kHz to the Amateur Service on a secondary basis.

The Amateur Service is not the only one affected, and many other radiocommunications stakeholders have to wait for the administrative and regulatory details to be updated before the changed provisions of the Australian Radiofrequency Spectrum Plan 2017 – posted on the ACMA website in the week before Christmas – can be exploited.