CDMA extension is welcomed

“I am pleased the Rudd Government has followed the Coalition's lead and applied a 'no disadvantage' standard in deciding that Telstra's CDMA network is not yet ready for closure,” Sophie Mirabella, the Federal Member for Indi, said today.

While the postponement makes sense, it is odd for the Communications Minister to simultaneously urge CDMA users tomigrate to the Next G™ network "as quickly as possible" despite notbeing in the position to "declare equivalence between the Next G™ network and the CDMA network".

“Telstra is now facing a very clear test of their credibility of their commitment to regional mobile phone users.They need to work hard to regain the trust of their customers and stakeholders who depend on their services,” Mrs Mirabella said.

“Throughout the North-East, mobile phones provide an important life-line for hundreds-of-thousands of people and therefore it is vital they are serviced by a network that instills confidence by providing broad and reliable coverage.”

“While Telstra was confident its Next G™ network provided equivalent or better coverage than CDMA, anecdotal reports flooding into my office suggest this was not the case for everybody.”

“It would appear the information provided by the ACMA report supports the anecdotal evidence that delaying the CDMA closure was in the best interests of customers. Having urged Senator Conroy to publicly release ACMA's report and related departmental advice, I am pleased that he has finally done so.”

The license condition requiring NextG to be equal or better than CDMA was initially requested by Mrs Mirabella on behalf of rural Australians in the Coalition party room. The Liberal Minister then issued a licence condition to Telstra that would require Telstra to keep the CDMA network open until the Next G network provides equivalent or better coverage and services, reflecting the public commitments Telstra had already made itself.

“This additional time before closing the CDMA network should provide Telstra with sufficient time to fine-tune its Next G™ network and to assist customers to make the transition. This will include ensuring customers have Next G™ handsets and accessories that are compatible with available network signals.”