Australia’s government released a policy paper on the development of 5G for the country, with plans to convene a working group bringing together representatives from across government and industry.

The Department of Communications and the Arts released the paper entitled 5G: Enabling the future economy outlining measures the government can take to create the policy and regulatory environment required to enable a more efficient rollout.

Measures detailed include making spectrum available in a timely manner, actively engaging in international spectrum harmonisation activities, streamlining arrangements to allow mobile operators to deploy infrastructure more quickly, and reviewing existing telecoms regulatory arrangements to ensure they are fit for purpose.

The paper explains the government considers 5G is more than an incremental change for mobile communications: “It provides the underlying architecture that will enable the next wave of productivity and innovation across different sectors of the Australian economy. Efficient rollout of 5G and uptake of the services it supports has the potential to produce far-reaching economic and social benefits and support growth of Australia’s digital economy.”

Work to reform Australia’s spectrum management framework is expected to result in a new structure being put in place by 2019, with the Australian Communications and Media Authority planning to auction spectrum in the 3.6GHz band – a 5G candidate frequency commonly used in trials – in 2018.

Industry initiatives
Meanwhile, the country’s operators have been leading the charge to 5G for well over a year.

In September 2016, market leader Telstra worked with Sweden-based equipment vendor Ericsson to trial one of the world’s first 5G radio test beds in Melbourne, using 800MHz of mmWave spectrum. The operator plans to deploy a 5G trial on the Gold Coast in 2018 before full commercial launch from 2020.

Third-ranked Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) said in January 2016 building the foundation for a 5G network was a priority. It is also targeting commercial launch in 2020.

The first official 5G specifications are expected to be agreed by the mobile industry in 2018.