Tuesday, 30 April 2024

Mobile phone coverage

Tim BULL (Gippsland East) (19:04): (613) My adjournment tonight is to the Minister for Emergency Services, and the action that I seek is that she write to the federal communications minister to ensure that all areas that currently receive the 3G network in Victoria receive 4G coverage after the network is closed mid this year. The reason that I am asking for this is because we have a number of communities that currently receive 3G that are not being guaranteed they will receive 4G because they are not on Telstra’s 3G coverage map.

The scenario that presents itself is that in very high bushfire-prone areas, as all members of this house will know, we now have communities relying heavily on mobile phone coverage at those times when bushfires hit and other emergency situations arise – they might be car accidents or other events – and we need to ensure that we do not have a diminishing coverage of mobile phone reception.

Whilst some of these communities are not on the official 3G map where Telstra is guaranteeing that they will receive 4G – they sit outside that – I have been in one forum where that was described by a Telstra representative as an anomaly. Well, whether it is an anomaly or not that they are receiving coverage outside this map area, the reality of it is they are receiving coverage under 3G, and they need to be guaranteed that they will receive coverage under 4G. I ask for the emergency services minister to please write to the federal communications minister to make sure that we do not have any areas that have diminished service under the transition to the 4G network.