Telstra, Optus committed to 3G shutdown despite public safety fears

Australia’s two largest telcos, Telstra and Optus, say they remain committed to an imminent shutdown of their 3G networks, despite a Senate committee recommending the switch-off be delayed due to fears relating to public safety and triple zero emergency services.

Late last week, the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee handed down its interim report into the 3G shutdown, recommending that Communications Minister Michelle Rowland urgently meet with Telstra and Optus to seek their agreement to voluntarily delay the shutdown.

Should the telcos refuse, Rowland should order the delay herself, the report recommends.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The inquiry also said more should be done to aid understanding of the impacts of the shutdown on non-phone devices such as medical alerts and fire alarms.

The inquiry was sparked by concerns, first reported by this masthead, that nearly 1 million mobile phones would be unable to call triple zero emergency services when the nation’s 3G networks are switched off this year. Many older smartphones are 4G-enabled but default to the 3G network for triple zero calls, meaning those devices would be unable to contact triple zero once that network is shut.

Senator Matt Canavan has written to Optus and Telstra.Credit: Rhett Wyman

The number of affected mobile phones is now estimated to be around 77,000, down from nearly 1 million in March. Telstra and Optus will close their networks from August 31 and September 1 respectively, so their 3G bandwidth can be repurposed for 4G and 5G networks. TPG, which operates the Vodafone brand, shut down its 3G network in January.

“The committee has received and heard evidence that Australia is inadequately prepared for the shutdown of the 3G mobile network,” the report reads.

“The committee believes the dangers to public safety, business continuity, and the provision of essential services as a result of the shutdown are too great to ignore and that the shutdown must be delayed until these concerns are sufficiently addressed.”

Inquiry chairman, Nationals senator Matt Canavan, has written to Telstra and Optus asking them to voluntarily delay 3G network shutdowns. But both telcos said in statements to this masthead that they would be sticking with their planned shutdown timings.

Telstra and Optus have given away phones and store credit vouchers to help vulnerable people to upgrade.

“Optus understands the public interest in ensuring a smooth transition to 3G closure and mitigating the risks to public safety,” the telco’s vice president Andrew Sheridan said in a statement.

“The vast majority of our customers have already taken action and we are continuing to communicate with the remaining customers who need to act.

“All of our customers will benefit from the 3G switch-off as it will allow Optus to repurpose spectrum so that we can provide better quality 4G services and offer broad-based 5G coverage in regional areas that will deliver customers a better network experience.”

A Telstra spokesman said the telco set the closure date of its 3G network nearly five years ago and had been communicating with customers and stakeholders about the need to prepare for it ever since.

“The vast majority of our customers have taken the necessary action to update their devices and we thank them for that. This is reflected by the fact that our 3G network accounts for only 1 per cent of our total mobile network traffic,” he said.

“We acknowledge the points raised by the inquiry, all of which have been the focus of our comprehensive customer and community outreach program.”

Opposition communications spokesman David Coleman said the government had “spent too long being a weak and ineffectual bystander in the shutdown process”.

“This was a shutdown which was announced five years ago. We are only in the mess now because of a government that failed to act quickly on the warnings and then moved at dial-up speed,” he said.

“We are now seeing a desperate scramble with Telstra due to shut down their services in less than a month and Optus set to follow soon after. I call on the minister to end the uncertainty for consumers and the telecommunications industry, announce her plans for the 3G shutdown and explain how the government will fix this mess.”

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland would not be drawn on whether she would use her ministerial powers to order a delay of the 3G shutdown.

“I established a working group with industry and my department earlier in the year when the potential scale of these issues was first identified. Since then, the industry and my department have been meeting regularly, often on a daily basis, to work to address adverse consumer impacts arising from the switchover,” she said.

“Mobile customers of any network can text ‘3’ to ‘3498’ and receive an instant reply on whether their mobile handset could be impacted by the 3G switchover.

“We strongly encourage all Australians to check their device via the SMS service, respond to messages from your mobile provider and take action.”

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