‘Getting rid of the bush tax’: Vodafone vows to take fight to Telstra in regional areas

Vodafone has switched on a major expansion of its network that will double mobile coverage across Australia, as the TPG-owned telco vows to ramp up competition with Telstra in regional areas.

The network expansion, part of a deal to share infrastructure with Optus, increases Vodafone’s reach from around 400,000 square kilometres to more than one million square kilometres. This will boost the company’s coverage from 95.4 to 98.4 per cent of the Australian population, and is expected to inject much-needed competition into the regional market.

TPG Telecom – which owns Vodafone – has expanded their network in Australia in a bid to compete with Telstra and Optus. Credit: Pat Scala, Rob Homer

Vodafone group executive boss Kieren Cooney said the expansion focused on “getting rid of the bush tax”.

“What we’ve heard for decades, is that Australians … who travel to regional areas or live in regional areas, they’re sick of not really having a choice and they’re sick of having to pay a premium for regional coverage, which they rightly consider as a bush tax,” he said.

“So we are sitting here and saying, maybe there’s a better way to solve that and provide more competition and more options … and take on some of the big incumbents because we know there are people who want more options and competition.”

In Victoria, Vodafone has gained access to an additional 602 mobile sites, meaning customers will now get more coverage along key inland travel routes such as the Calder and Murray Valley highways.

NSW customers will gain access to an additional 689 mobile sites, improving coverage in areas such as Wagga, Griffith, Coffs Harbor and Port Macquarie.

Cooney confirmed the expansion was part of Vodafone’s plan to compete with rivals such as Telstra in the long term.

“We’re here to try to find a way to better service customers in Australia, and this is a way we can really level the playing field, which will allow us to compete in a really meaningful way,” he said.

Last year, TPG Telecom – Vodafone’s parent company – announced it would share regional mobile networks and spectrums with Optus in regional Australia, after a previous infrastructure deal with Telstra was shut down by competition authorities.

Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) chief executive officer Carol Bennett said the 11-year network sharing agreement between Optus and TPG could lead to cheaper and more viable services, however she acknowledged the long-term impacts remained uncertain.

“Regional consumers stand to benefit, at least in the short term, with improved network capacity from smaller telcos and the potential for lower prices driven by increased competition,” she said.

Vodafone merged with TPG in 2020, and former TPG chief executive David Teoh said at the time the merger would help to create a challenger to compete against telco giants Telstra and Optus.

Optus managing director of customer solutions Anthony Shiner said the company welcomed Vodafone’s expansion, describing it as “really good stimulation for competition”.

“From a customer behaviour [perspective], when you have three competitors going at it, you really do focus on what do customers need … and how do you actually deliver quicker and more consistently across the country,” he said.

“So I think it’s really, really good for competition. And given the success that we’re having, we’re up for the fight, we’re looking forward to it.”

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