Telstra NEXT G licence condition welcomed
Mrs Sophie Mirabella, the Federal Member for Indi, has today thanked Senator Coonan for listening to the Liberal backbench in their request for a draft licence condition being imposed on Telstra which will require them to keep the existing CDMA network in place until the Next G network provides equivalent or better coverage.
“In the past, I have implored the Minister to take this action and raised this matter with my Parliamentary colleagues in the party room. I am therefore pleased that we have added this licence condition to entrench the rights of telephone users in rural and regional Australia,” Mrs Mirabella said.
“I have just completed an electorate tour throughout the north-east and have had my concerns confirmed as the switch to the Next G network was one of the leading frustrations which people aired with me.”
“The anecdotal evidence from on the ground is that the Next G system is not up to scratch: unsatisfactory at worst and patchy at best,” Mrs Mirabella said.
“From my discussions with residents in the north-east – be it in Mansfield, Tolmie, Rutherglen or Barnawartha – there is a creeping sense of dissatisfaction at the level of service offered by the Next G network as it stands. I myself can vouch for this as I recently had to switch from my CDMA mobile telephone to a Next G handset.”
“I am pleased that the Government has put in place this condition. We make no apologies for putting the needs of consumers in rural and regional Australia first when improving the regulation of Australia’s communications industry,” Mrs Mirabella said.
“As part of this process, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and The Arts, Senator Coonan, has directed the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to undertake independent coverage audits of both the CDMA and Next G networks.”
Mrs Mirabella has also raised this matter with Telstra CountryWide officials in Canberra more recently who vehemently opposed the imposition of a licence condition.
“At any rate, if Telstra says that services under Next G will be as good or better than CDMA, then it has nothing to fear from this added licence condition,” Mrs Mirabella said.
“In the past, I have implored the Minister to take this action and raised this matter with my Parliamentary colleagues in the party room. I am therefore pleased that we have added this licence condition to entrench the rights of telephone users in rural and regional Australia,” Mrs Mirabella said.
“I have just completed an electorate tour throughout the north-east and have had my concerns confirmed as the switch to the Next G network was one of the leading frustrations which people aired with me.”
“The anecdotal evidence from on the ground is that the Next G system is not up to scratch: unsatisfactory at worst and patchy at best,” Mrs Mirabella said.
“From my discussions with residents in the north-east – be it in Mansfield, Tolmie, Rutherglen or Barnawartha – there is a creeping sense of dissatisfaction at the level of service offered by the Next G network as it stands. I myself can vouch for this as I recently had to switch from my CDMA mobile telephone to a Next G handset.”
“I am pleased that the Government has put in place this condition. We make no apologies for putting the needs of consumers in rural and regional Australia first when improving the regulation of Australia’s communications industry,” Mrs Mirabella said.
“As part of this process, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and The Arts, Senator Coonan, has directed the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to undertake independent coverage audits of both the CDMA and Next G networks.”
Mrs Mirabella has also raised this matter with Telstra CountryWide officials in Canberra more recently who vehemently opposed the imposition of a licence condition.
“At any rate, if Telstra says that services under Next G will be as good or better than CDMA, then it has nothing to fear from this added licence condition,” Mrs Mirabella said.
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