The Department of Defence has expressed concern that a review of satellite licence fees by the Australian Communications Authority could endanger the integrity of the existing GPS system.

The Department of Defence (DoD) is concerned because the Review of Satellite Licence Fees Discussion Paper -- issued by the ACA in March this year -- does not mention the GPS network, and could therefore leave the system open to be degraded by interference from other spectrum users. In its submission to the review, the DoD strongly urged the ACA to include NavstarGPS in the review of the satellite licence fee regime.

The DoD presently licences the U.S. government-operated NavstarGPS satellite service on behalf of all Australians. "This licensing arrangement was initiated because the ACA advised that the only way that the NavstarGPS could be protected from interference was for it to be licensed and no other individual user was prepared to licence it," the DoD submission said.

"The service provided by NavstarGPS is a free good and has become essential for the health of the nation, since it is widely used throughout Australia. An ACA policy that appears to advance the possibility of degradation of the service because, in the absence of licensing, it will not be protected from interference seems most shortsighted."

The ACA received 18 submissions to the discussion paper, which were unanimous in opposing the use of auctions to allocate satellite spectrum, giving a range of reasons, from inhibiting the entry of smaller players to the poor state of the satellite communications industry.

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