Technical details for land mobile licences

Get technical information on land mobile licences:

1. Trunked land mobile services (LM 3)
2. Frequency assignment procedures for land mobile services adjacent to TV channels 2, 3 and 6 (LM 5)
3. Management of bi-directional amplifiers in the land mobile service in the frequency range 29.7 MHz to 520 MHz (LM 6)
4. Frequency assignment requirements for the land mobile service (LM 8)

What to consider when you assign a frequency for a land mobile network

Most land mobile radio networks in Australia operate on these frequency bands:

• VHF mid band (70 to 87.5 MHz)
• VHF high band (148 to 174 MHz)
• 400 MHz band (403 to 420 MHz and 450 to 520 MHz)

When you assign a new service, you should avoid using radio channels of a network that already exists. You should only do this if there are no other radio channels available.

If no other channels are available, you can choose a new radio channel.

To do this, you should consider the features of the existing service, such as:

• number of channels used
• geographic locations
• channel loading
• how long the service has been operating

This improves the chance that a network can reuse an existing radio channel when it expands. This helps to reduce the infrastructure cost of the expansion. 

When the variety of equipment in a network is minimised, it also reduces network maintenance costs, such as spare parts and training for maintenance staff. 

You should keep this strategy in mind for new assignments in the:

• VHF mid band
• VHF high band
• 400 MHz band

Your clients should consider that this assignment strategy does not guarantee existing channels will be available to support future network expansion.

If they wish to make sure channels are available for expansion, they should license the required channels in the locations that are likely to be used by the expanded network.

The required channel will then be available for use when the network expands, subject to any future re-planning activities.

You can determine the radio spectrum usage profile of land mobile networks by using the Register of Radiocommunications Licences.

Examples of networks that you should give special consideration to are police and emergency services networks. These operate in the frequency range 458 to 470 MHz.

Examples of other networks operating in Australia are listed below.

Examples of land mobile networks in Australia

Find technical information for each land mobile licence band:

Land mobile: ambulatory station or system (400 MHz band)

Land mobile: ambulatory station or system (VHF high band)

Land mobile system (0-30 MHz)