Interview with ABC Pilbara, Breakfast with Kelly Gudgeon

KELLY GUDGEON, HOST:We’ve been talking a bit about the impending shutdown of the 3G network at the end of August by Telstra and the start of September by Optus. You may remember recently I spoke to someone from Optus about some data they had showing that Port Headland is top of the list of regional towns across Australia that still has the most number of people with 3G handsets. The concern here is that once the network has shut down, those handsets will no longer be able to call emergency services. The Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland, has also expressed her concern on this. I caught up with her a bit earlier to talk about that, and also to get an update on the Regional Telco Review that is happening at the moment.
 
MICHELLE ROWLAND, MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS: All of Australia’s mobile networks are actually switching over from 3G to enable better technologies like 4G and 5G. That’s good for consumers because it means better mobile services, better speeds and better capabilities.
 
Telstra and Optus plan to do the switchover by September this year, but it is a concern to the Government - and also to the industry - that there is a subset of handsets out there in the community right now that work perfectly fine on the 3G network, work perfectly fine on the 4G network when the switchover occurs, but when they need to dial Triple Zero it requires the 3G network to carry that signal. That’s because the manufacturer of these devices has configured them in that way. So what that means in practice is that after the switchover, if consumers have those particular handsets and they go to dial Triple Zero, they won’t be able to get through. So that is a great concern.
 
What is happening now is the Government has convened a Working Group with industries some months ago to identify these handsets, to identify where these particular consumers may be located, and to communicate this to consumers. Now, Port Headland has been identified by Optus as one of the areas that has a high number of these handsets. My Public Service Announcement today is that anyone who has a handset to text the number ‘3’ to ‘3498’ and they can find out whether or not their handset is impacted.
 
Whilst we initially discovered that there was a large number of affected handsets out there - around 740,000 of them in the community - our latest figures, and I can tell you this here first, is that, thanks to the efforts of industry and getting consumers notified, that number is now down to around 100,000 handsets around Australia. It's still a lot of handsets. It's too high, but it's very encouraging to see that message is getting out.
 
GUDGEON: Of that 100,000, do you know how many are actually in Port Hedland or around the Pilbara?
 
ROWLAND: The mobile network operators have identified probably around a dozen areas that have high concentrations. They haven't given exact numbers, but I think it's very important for me as Minister to be communicating this directly to local residents, because they are a high number of people. People should also have been receiving either voice messages when they go to make calls or text messages, notifying them that these changes are coming. We're getting to the point where people please should not ignore those messages any longer. If they are receiving them, if they have identified themselves, or even if they're unsure if their handset is impacted, please contact your service provider directly.
 
The service providers themselves - the mobile network operators - have that if people aren't sure whether they're going to be able to afford a new handset, they have plans in place right now to assist people to swap them out and to get a handset that will be compatible after the switchover.
 
So please don't delay!
 
GUDGEON:I know Telstra were doing that. They were providing new handsets for people who weren't able to afford a new one. Are Optus also involved in a program like that? So these Port Hedland residents who have these handsets have been identified by Optus as their customers. So will Optus actually help those customers if they can't afford a new handset?
 
ROWLAND: Optus and Vodafone have also informed my Department that they will provide assistance to individuals if they’re contacted. Optus has actually identified Port Hedland, as I said, as being an area with a high number of people who have been impacted compared to the rest of Australia. While these arrangements, as you very rightly identify, they are different to what Telstra has put in place, both Optus and Vodafone have notified us that if consumers contact them, they will do everything to make arrangements to make sure they can switchover, and they can access Triple Zero, after the switchover occurs.
 
GUDGEON: Minister, on a related topic, there is a review happening at the moment as well on the regional telcos. Are you able to give us an update on that review?
 
ROWLAND: Certainly. This is actually a very important review that's required by law every three years, and that is for a review of the adequacy of telco services in regional, rural and remote parts of Australia.
 
Submissions on that have been opened since the beginning of the year, and they're closing in around two weeks on 31 July. So anyone who wants to have a say can go to the website. It's www.rtirc.gov.au – that's the Regional Telecommunications Review website. There's a survey there. People can also provide comments to that.
 
We expect that there'll be, in addition to the roadshow that's been going on around Australia, some virtual meetings in coming months. I should also point out for your listeners that this review is actually chaired by a very respected West Australian and former minister, Alannah MacTiernan, and she is very alive to the needs of regional Australia. We want to see the effectiveness of existing services and identify barriers, and not just for its own sake. This is a Government that is committed to closing the digital divide between metropolitan and regional Australia, and this inquiry is a very important input into doing everything we can to make that happen.
 
GUDGEON: When would we see the results from the inquiry?
 
ROWLAND:   The inquiry will be reporting by the end of the year, 31 December. But we intend to continue with some very important work in parallel, including the current review we are doing of the Universal Service Obligation. Combined with the regional telco inquiry, we anticipate that there will be some milestones delivered before that time, so certainly before the end of the year.
 
The Government is very committed to ensuring that we utilize the best technologies, that we have a fit for purpose scheme. And this of course also operates in addition to our Better Connectivity Plan, which is the single largest injection - some $2.2 billion into investing in regional areas. We want to make sure that is used properly, that it delivers the best outcomes, and we see meaningful change in terms of closing the digital divide.