September 17, 2013
No fast hearing for spectrum claim
The Waitangi Tribunal has rejected a request from spectrum claimants for an urgent remedies hearing on the allocation of spectrum needed for the next generation of mobile telecommunications networks.
This month the Government intends to auction management rights to the 700 megahertz spectrum freed up by the switch to digital television.
The New Zealand Maori Council, the Wellington Maori Language Board and the Everton whanau say some of the spectrum should be set aside for Maori, as was done with other spectrum blocks after appeals to the tribunal and the courts.
But the tribunal says it would need to decide whether the claim was well founded before it could consider remedies.
It says the Crown’s offer of a $30 million fund to help Maori support their language and culture in a digital world, rather than giving access to spectrum, may be a sufficient remedy in itself.
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