Race to 4G raises farmer concerns

Farmers have “absolutely no confidence” that 4G coverage will be available when the 3G network is switched off on June 30, despite reassurances from Telstra.

A 5G Optus tower. Picture: Mick Tsikas

NSW farm leaders say they have “absolutely no confidence” that 4G coverage will be available when the 3G network is switched off on June 30, despite Telstra reassurances.

NSW Farmers rural affairs committee chair Deb Charlton said the shutdown of Telstra’s 3G service on June 30 – as well as Optus’ 3G closure in September – would spell disaster for many farmers who often work alone and a long way from help.

Ms Charlton said farmers could not get a guarantee from the telcos that 4G would deliver the same footprint as 3G by the cut-off date.

“As providers push ahead with this 3G network shutdown, there’s no doubt there will be farmers who run into trouble or have an accident, and will be unable to call for help,” Mrs Charlton said.

“We have absolutely no confidence that 4G coverage will be available when the 3G network is switched off, and we will only see more of these tragic situations as a result.”

Telstra Regional General Manager Steve Tinker said: “More than 98 per cent of our mobile sites already have 4G installed, and we have an absolute commitment to expand our 4G coverage to be equivalent to existing 3G coverage across the country by the end of June.”

“As customers continue to move from 3G to take up the benefits of newer technology, 3G now accounts for just 1 per cent of our total mobile network traffic,” he said.

“We are working very hard to ensure that all 3G only areas will have equivalent 4G coverage and that we move as many people as possible on to the 4G network before we close the network on 30 June.”

Farmers are also being warned to check that any 3G reliant devices on their machinery, water and other monitoring devices are upgraded ahead of the shutdown.

John Deere has already issued an alert calling on farmers to upgrade their 3G modems to a 4G JDLink, warning those who haven’t may already “be experiencing problems due to reduced network coverage, decreased transmission speeds, or complete loss of function where 3G technology has been decommissioned from specific towers by telcos”.

Braidwood cattle and prime lamb producer Garry Grant has spent $2000 upgrading a water monitor on his second property at Bega, which sends him a warning if there’s a sudden drop in the stock water tank.

Mr Grant said while everyone may be focused on their mobile phones, farmers could not afford to forget they needed to check the growing number of stationary devices relied on to run their operations.