Economic Development Minister Grant Gibbons has released a new policy statement on the allocation of radio frequencies for mobile services.

The policy, released yesterday, details how the Regulatory Authority allocates frequency bands to wireless telecommunications service providers to ensure the most efficient use of the spectrum and give new businesses fair access.

A Government spokesman said better use of the spectrum will benefit consumers by encouraging greater competition, which will encourage providers to improve the speed and reliability of their networks.

And while the policy proposes the introduction of an annual fee for “high demand” frequencies and a structured pricing mechanism for service providers to encourage efficient use of the spectrum, the spokesman said it is not anticipated that the cost will be passed on to customers for existing services.

The policy also opens up frequencies for mobile services that had previously been used by analogue television broadcasts.

“With the recent transition from analogue TV to digital TV, this particular band is no longer required for TV broadcasting,” the spokesman said. “This transition has been called the ‘digital dividend’, in that it has allowed Regulators to increase the amount of spectrum available to the ever expanding mobile telecommunications sector.

“The availability of this particular frequency range for mobile broadband services has an added public benefit. Since these frequencies are at the lower end of the spectrum, they can cover a wider geographic area and provide better signal strength inside buildings.”