Telcos would be required to provide outdoor mobile coverage across all of Australia under laws to be introduced by Labor if it retains government at the upcoming election.
All outdoor areas of Australia would have mobile coverage by 2027 under the laws, with an extra five million square kilometres to gain service, including 37,000km of roads in regional areas.
The proposal is made possible due to Low Earth Orbit Satellites (LEOSats) and the arrival of ‘Direct to Device’ technology.
The National Farmers’ Federation, NSW Farmers and GrainGrowers were quick to praise Labor’s commitment to universal mobile services.
NFF president David Jochinke said the obligation would both create and safeguard a right for every Australian to access basic calls and text services from any location.
“Mobile black spots are a huge source of frustration for people in the bush. Coverage gaps can compromise safety and make it harder to run a business,” Mr Jochinke said.
“This new obligation will ensure that the safety of rural Australians, and their access to basic mobile services, cannot be put in the too-hard basket.
“This levels the playing field in a big way — making outdoor mobile coverage universally accessible, regardless of where you live or which phone company you’re with.”
Federal Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the obligation for telcos would guarantee Australians had access to mobile service anywhere they could see the sky.
“The universal outdoor mobile obligation will improve public safety, increase resilience during natural disasters and provide an extra layer of coverage in areas previously thought too difficult or costly to reach,” she said.
While Australia has previously had a universal service obligation for landlines and payphones, it has not extended to mobile phone coverage.
Laws setting up the requirement would be introduced to parliament later in 2025, with the mobile obligation to focus at first on SMS and phone calls.
The universal service could be expanded to include mobile data in the future as technology improves.
Mr Jochinke urged all sides of politics to support the proposal.
But he warned this could not be seen as an excuse to reduce investment in the terrestrial mobile network.
“Land-based coverage from mobile towers will still be the gold standard for years to come,” he said.
“Satellite-based connectivity is just one piece of the puzzle, and the need for continued co-investment in mobile towers by telco providers and government isn’t going away.
“We’ve still got a long way to go before the bush is on a level playing field with the city when it comes to connectivity."
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