Telcos talk up 3G shutdown amid farmers’ ‘dire’ safety fears

A majority of grain producers reported a reduction in the quality of their mobile service, GrainGrowers’ rural affairs manager Sean Cole told a Senate inquiry in Canberra on Wednesday, February 5.

“This potentially has dire implications [for] farm worker safety and natural disaster response, particularly in relation to fire,” Mr Cole said.

About 90 per cent of producers surveyed by the growers’ organisation two weeks ago experienced reduced service or, in some cases, new blackspots, he said.

A farming family in Charters Towers had reception on only 20 per cent of their vast Queensland property after the shutdown, compared to 90 per cent before, National Farmers’ Federation acting chief executive Charles Thomas said.

“Despite the gravity of the concerns that we’re hearing from our members right across the country, rural Australians don’t believe that reporting these issues to their provider will lead to solutions,” Mr Thomas said.

“People don’t want to be on hold for hours only to be told they need to purchase more equipment — or worse — that there is nothing to be done.”

NFF rural affairs general manager Charlotte Wundersitz told the inquiry that Telstra and Optus had not delivered on their promise of equivalent or improved coverage after the 3G shutdown.

“The NFF continues to hear widespread reports of reduced service availability and quality. Farmers are reporting that overall service quality has diminished post-shutdown,” she said.

“Farmers have been left with no choice but to fork out for expensive boosters, antennas ... and even after all of that many are still finding very basic connectivity a challenge.

“We have said repeatedly that the situation on the ground is a safety issue and a productivity issue. With the shutdown coinciding with both harvest and fire danger season, rural communities are bearing the full weight of this fact.”

But Optus executive Harvey Wright said less than one per cent of customer complaints to the telco since September 2024 related to 3G.

“We’re pretty confident that, actually, we haven’t seen any reduction in coverage,” Mr Wright said.

Telstra’s 3G network used to cover 2.65 million square kilometres across Australia, whereas 4G has been expanded to cover three million square kilometres, executive Justine Rowe said.

There was a speed improvement of 10 per cent nationally, 20 per cent in outer regional areas and 50 per cent in remote parts of the country, Ms Rowe said.

“By repurposing our old 3G spectrum, we’ve been able to expand capacity and improve speeds,” she said.

Ms Rowe acknowledged individual experiences could vary and Telstra would only know of problems if their customers reported them.

She encouraged affected Telstra customers to call the new dedicated 3G hotline on 1800 990 853.

During question time in Federal Parliament earlier on Wednesday, Federal Member for Indi Helen Haines said some of her constituents had reported connectivity issues and asked what the government would do to ensure no-one was worse off.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said she was closely monitoring reports of poor coverage and had requested weekly updates from the telcos.

– with AAP.