Cunliffe David: Communications Legislation Bill — First Reading 
Cunliffe David: Communications Legislation Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:631;Page:2997] 
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Minister of Communications) 
: 
 I move  
That the Communications Legislation Bill be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be considered by the Commerce Committee and that the committee present its final report to the House on or before 28 July. This bill is a largely technical measure that is designed to prevent unintended consequences to correct certain anomalies in the wording of the present legislation and to deal with some timing issues. The bill is narrow in scope as demonstrated by there being just one substantive clause in Part A which amends the Telecommunications Act. The bill is not related to any decisions on the broader telecommunications stocktake. It was introduced to Parliament on 6 April well prior to finalisation of stocktake decisions. Those broader matters will be considered through separate and later legislation. 
This bill contains a number of urgent technical matters that need not and should not await that wider review process. The Communications Legislation Bill is an omnibus bill that amends both the Telecommunications Act 2001 and the Radiocommunications Act 1989. The bill will contribute to improving the efficient operation of the communications sector of the economy as part of the economic transformation of New Zealand society. 
A robust up-to-date communications sector is an essential part of an innovative growing economy. The bill maintains a commercial environment of certainty and confidence for both telecommunications services and use of the radio frequency spectrum. That will benefit both producers and consumers of goods and services be they providers of telecommunications services radio spectrum licensees or customers viewers or listeners. 
Part 1 amends the Telecommunications Act 2001. It extends by 2 years to December 2008 the regulation of 10 of the services originally regulated under the Act. Regulation of those services is due to expire in December 2006 unless extended by an Order in Council on the recommendation of the Minister following an investigation by the Commerce Commission. The necessary investigations by the commission are under way but final decisions may not be able to be acted on by December 2006. Full investigations necessarily require a thorough process utilise the scarce resources of the commission and of course take time to finalise. However telecommunications service providers and customers need as much certainty as is practicable and it is undesirable for recommendations on renewal of regulation or otherwise to be made without proper scrutiny. This bill therefore extends until 2008 the existing regulation of the 10 telecommunications services mentioned. However the commission can still make any necessary investigations and regulation of servers can be discontinued if that is seen as appropriate by a similar process of recommendation and Order in Council that would normally extend regulation. 
Part 2 amends the Radiocommunications Act 1989. Again the amendments are largely of a technical nature but they are critical for the efficient functioning of the regulatory environment for services that require use of the radio frequency spectrum. Present legislation provides for proposed new licences to be assessed against existing licences to ensure that the new use is technically compatible. The Act requires a certificate to be provided by a suitably qualified and approved radio engineer attesting to technical compatibility prior to registration on a public register. Put simply accommodating poor-quality receivers can limit the spectrum available for new licences and lower the economic utilisation of the radio frequency spectrum as a whole. 
The bill therefore establishes a process by which inappropriate receivers are not to be taken into account in the certification of new licences. The need for that provision is underscored by current issues regarding receivers in vehicles for VHF-FM broadcasting reception. Used vehicles imported from Japan are normally fitted with an FM receiver that can receive only two or three FM stations in New Zealand because the FM band used in Japan is different from the international band used in New Zealand. The best option for consumers or vehicle dealers is to fit a new radio on importation but some importers or dealers have fitted a cheaper device known as a band expander to allow reception of more stations. Those devices have inherent limitations and in some cases will give degraded or no reception of certain stations. 
Although it is a consumer choice not to install a New Zealand - specification radio receiver or to purchase a car that has one that choice should not destroy or deny normal efficient use of the radio frequency spectrum for other listeners with New Zealand standard receivers. That becomes increasingly important as further use of the VHF-FM band is being planned. 
The present Radiocommunications Act provides for management rights and underlying spectrum licences to be created for periods of up to 20 years. That gives certainty of investment for services using the radio spectrum. In addition management rights—termed “successive management rights”—can be created prior to expiry of existing rights but as separate rights. The bill allows in limited circumstances the aggregation in time of an existing management right and a successive right. That will facilitate an efficient transition from one right to the next and will give improved certainty and efficiency in the radiocommunications sector as rights created from 1990 onwards reach their 20-year expiry date from 2010 onwards. 
The bill includes provisions to allow radio licensees to resolve any contentious issues by arbitration in a similar manner to the existing provisions for commercially allocated spectrum licences. Issues concerning radio licences which are issued administratively have previously been resolved by decisions of the ministry. The other provisions facilitate electronic processing by removing references to duplicate copies correct wording relating to the expiry of successive management rights improve the efficient recovery of unpaid regulation fees and give amended regulation-making powers. All of those amendments are intended to maintain and enhance the efficient operation of the regime prescribed in the Act. 
The communications sector is subject to rapid changes in technologies and therefore in services. It is also characterised by long-term investment in physical infrastructure issues. Those characteristics require a regulatory environment that allows a fair return to those who own the infrastructure assets while protecting consumers and one that is able to keep pace with the rapid changes in technologies and services. 
This bill is a relatively small but important step in New Zealand keeping its regulatory environment up to date. The issues are narrowly focused; however they are relatively urgent and need to be dealt with now. Wider legislative changes will be proposed later this year in order to progress decisions arising from the telecommunications stocktake but those provisions are necessarily more detailed and will benefit from a full discussion at the select committee in due course. 
In conclusion I say that the Communications Legislation Bill is an important though narrow piece of legislation. It is acknowledged as being largely technical in nature but it is critical to maintaining and improving the efficiency of the communications sector. It does not pre-empt decisions of the Commerce Commission but allows its expert view on continued regulation or otherwise of communication services to be adopted in sensible time frames within the resources available. It deals with matters in the sector that are both urgent and necessary. The bill will avoid unintended consequences in both telecommunications and radiocommunications by preventing the unplanned expiry of regulation on a narrow range of communications services and by giving the legal certainty to allow the full use of the radio spectrum despite some listeners choosing to use inappropriate radio receivers such as band expanders. The bill also deals with enhancing the regime in the Radiocommunications Act in several minor but important ways. As such I commend this bill to the House.