The country’s largest mobile network operator, Telstra, has slammed assertions that mandatory mobile roaming would alleviate the country’s regional phone coverage crisis.
The Nationals have been advocating for the expansion of the universal service guarantee from landlines to mobile phones.
David Littleproud, the party’s leader, said that the federal government needed to act on amending the universal service guarantee and mandating mobile roaming.
According to Littleproud, coverage might be shared among telephone carriers, which would allow Australians to receive service regardless of their provider.
Littleproud said, “In 2023, communication has never been more important. It’s critical as a safety and emergency response, enabling better commerce, business and social interaction in areas of limited network coverage.”
Telstra, on the other hand, claimed that mandatory mobile roaming will harm regional Australians by removing incentives for carriers to invest or innovate in the areas.
“Telstra has also always supported commercial roaming and other sharing solutions, where providers join forces to deliver better outcomes for customers, without removing the drivers for providers to invest in new and improved coverage,” a spokesperson told AAP.
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Mandatory mobile roaming was deemed unworkable by the competition watchdog in 2017, saying that it would certainly affect market competitive dynamics.
The watchdog also rejected a 10-year mobile infrastructure sharing agreement with Telstra and TPG Telecom in December, saying that the arrangement would result in less regional infrastructure investment due to a lack of competition.
According to TPG, the outcome was a loss for regional Australians and that the business will take the case to the competition tribunal.
TPG external affairs general manager James Rickards said, “Infrastructure sharing will allow more mobile operators to offer their products and services in regional areas, deliver greater choice to regional communities and drive competition.”
According to Telstra, the attempted arrangement with TPG is an illustration of its dedication to share its network technologies for better results, but not at the expense of competition.
As a result of $875 million in financing from the federal government’s mobile blackspot programme, network providers like Telstra, TPG and Optus have a shared responsibility to enhancing regional network coverage.
Telstra said it took its commitments under the programme seriously and would keep up with its demands despite assertions that investments in regional mobile infrastructure will be halted by mandated shared roaming.
According to data from October of last year, 11 per cent of Australians were “very excluded” from digital services, indicating they lacked access to or were unable to use internet services.
The federal government allocated $400 million to boosting regional mobile coverage in the budget released in October.
Jaw de Guzman is the content producer for Comms Room, a knowledge platform and website aimed at assisting the communications industry and its professionals.
