The ACMA management approach to bands used by 900Mhz, 2.4Ghz and 5.8Ghz Wireless LAN devices relies mainly on a 'public park' concept which applies equally to all users of the spectrum both community and commercial operations alike.
With the 'public park' concept, it is possible for the ACMA to adopt a regulatory approach that allows users to share spectrum without formal frequency coordination between users.
Under the 'public park' concept, the planning objective is for all users to be able to access a small portion of the total resource and to share that resource in a way that requires on minimal regulatory intervention.
Such sharing usually requires the power of these devices to be kept well down. This approach avoids the need for ongoing individual frequency co-ordinations and the registering of technical details and locations of equipment for each new user, as is the case with licensed frequencies.
So access to the band by all potential users is then relatively unconstrained. However as the locations of users are not coordinated or registered, operations in 'public park' bands do not carry guarantees of interference-free operation.
The use of a 'public park' approach is administratively efficient and gives great freedom to users, but the price of this freedom is increased risk of interference.
