A major claim made by Telstra in advertising for the Telstra Next G network is that 99% of the Australian population is covered. During a recent journey from Melbourne to Opalton via Cobar, Bourke and Longreach and then back to Melbourne via Windorah, Birdsville, Maree, Andamooka and Melrose found that the Telstra Next G network did not exist in many areas and towns along this path.
Whilst it may be argued that the population in each location is not large, the transient population should not be forgotten during a population determination. At any time in Australia there is a large floating population of "gray ghosts" and during the winter months there is a large group of adventure tourists heading to such locations as the simpson desert. This year we had the floods in the Lake Eyre catchment and this brought large numbers of people out to the lake to view this natural wonder.
At Birdsville, a local mentioned that during the last Birdsville races Optus had setup a temporary mobile phone facility and because of this a Telstra employee had told the local that installation of a mobile phone facility may not occur or will be significantly delayed. I had the sudden feeling of deja vu, as I had been told this same story last year during a visit to Omeo in north east Victoria, when I enquired why my Telstra Next G devices would not work. In Omeo I was told that Telstra had objected to Optus being given a prime location for their mobile phone tower and that as a result Telstra had decided to delay Next G installation there. The Telstra wireless network map shows complete coverage of Omeo, yet there was no coverage during my visit to Omeo in August 2008.
Telstra is claiming to provide coverage to 99% of the Australian population at any time. This means that according to Telstra about 200,000 people are not provided with Telstra Next G coverage. I have read that during the winter months about 1-2 million Australians take holidays or are constantly on the road ("gray ghosts") and many of these head to remote regions or to regions on the border of the larger population areas. In many of the remote towns visited there were large numbers of people, sometimes lined up, to use the Telstra phone boxes. In Maree, I had to wait whilst the only Telstra phone box was being repaired and several tourists drove by looking at the phone box whilst I was waiting. At a time when Telstra is removing phone boxes in cities, I found large numbers of phone boxes in towns such as Birdsville which had six and possibly more phone boxes in a town of about 50 people. This is a disproportionate number of phone boxes for the permanent population and demonstrates that Telstra acknowledges the large number of tourists that transit Birdsville.
The numbers just don't add up. The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) should investigate Telstra's claims and insist that this matter be cleared up. For Telstra to argue that less than 1% of the Australian population are not provided with access to the Telstra Next G network is very debatable. Does Telstra's claim include people taking an Australian holiday or people working in the outback as shearers or stockmen? What about people living in towns like Opalton and Andamooka. Try using your standard phone handset in many of the beach side towns, such as Sandy Point in Victoria and you will be very disappointed. Last year, I watched a line of cars pull over just outside Sandy Point as they came into range of the nearest mobile phone tower and received messages. This was an amusing yet serious situation because the drivers were being distracted by recieving messages as they left the town and had to pull over to get the messages and make return calls. This line of vehicles included a local council truck.
I found the situation at Andamooka to be symptomatic of the problem. Andamooka has been a viable town since opals were found there early last century. Yes, at times it was a rough outback town, but now it is a major tourist location. during my trip, the first to Andamooka since 1970, I found a town geared towards tourism. Andamooka does not have Telstra Next G coverage and yet just 28 km away at the recently built (compared to Andamooka) Roxby Downs, Telstra Next G access was very evident. Roxby Downs is a mining town with a population of about 5000 people. I know what you're thinking. At the time that Telstra was providing Roxby Downs with coverage why didn't Telstra provide coverage at Andamooka, population of about 1000, and thereby provide the town and the tourists with Telstra Next G access?
The Telstra mobile phone coverage maps include the note that the maps may inlcude "planned coverage expansions of the Telstra wireless network". Is Telstra including areas that do not yet have Telstra wireless network coverage in the 99% population coverage claim?
It is time for this matter to be clarified by Telstra and the ACCC should get involved. Telstra has been making the coverage claims for several years and it is time for more information to be provided. What is exactly meant by the 99% population coverage claim? Does this mean based upon permanent residence? Even if "gray ghosts", transient workers and winter adventure tourists are discounted, the claim that no more than 200,000 Australians do not have access to the Telstra mobile network is very hard to believe.