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Public policy spectrum reservations
The Crown reserves some spectrum frequencies to meet public policy objectives.
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Public safety and security
International treaty provisions reserve some frequency bands on a global basis for specific services, like aircraft or ship communications and navigation.
Other bands and frequencies are reserved to meet national interests, such as:
- police
- fire and rescue
- ambulance
- defence
- conservation.
Providing and operating these services is the responsibility of the relevant agencies.
Māori language and culture
Te Puni Kōkiri is responsible for:
- developing policy on reserving radio and television broadcasting frequencies for the promotion of Māori language and culture
- determining successful applicants, and monitoring compliance, for particular reserved frequencies.
We're responsible for issuing licences for reserved frequencies.
See Māori reserved sound broadcasting licence for more information.
Non-commercial broadcasting
The Ministry for Culture and Heritage is responsible for developing policy on reserving radio and television broadcasting frequencies for other purposes, like Access Radio. It’s also responsible for applying the government's Regional and Community Broadcasting Policy Framework to decide between applicants competing for reserved frequencies.
The Ministry for Culture and Heritage(external link)
We're responsible for issuing licences for reserved frequencies.