Interview, Triple M Hobart

ANDY ‘TUBES’ TAYLOR, HOST: The Federal Communications Minister is Michelle Rowland, and she joins us live on the show right now. Good morning to you, Minister.
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MICHELLE ROWLAND, MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS: Good morning, Kaz and Tubes.

Telstra, Optus and TPG Telecom, including Vodafone, are switching off their 3G mobile networks at the end of this month. What does that mean for Tasmanians, Michelle?

ROWLAND: Well that's right. There's three weeks to go. So it means a couple of things for the good people of Tasmania. The first is it's important to check that your mobile device is compatible when the switchover happens. Your listeners can do that by texting the numeral ‘3’ to the number ‘3498’. That’s just the number ‘3’ to ‘3498’, and immediately they will be told whether their device is compatible after the switchover. So that's really important.

The second thing is, this is the first switchover of mobile technology that's been done in the era of the Internet of Things. We've got medical devices, smartwatches, so many things that rely on mobile connectivity. My key message to all your listeners is to check your tech. There's a national public awareness campaign that's being run right now. Your listeners can go to www.3Gclosure.com.au.

Please make sure that you check the compatibility of all these devices after the switchover, especially with medical alarms, and especially if you've got family, friends and loved ones who rely on them.

And, I should say, it is a good thing that this is happening in three weeks. It does need to be done in a safer way, and the operators have put off the switchover and deferred that so that we could get this public education campaign done. They've been working closely with the Government and with industry overall.

What it will mean is better quality mobile in the regions, because it's using the radio communications spectrum in a better way, better performance, better signals and less interference. But we need to make sure that it's done in the safest way possible.

KAZ MCMULLEN, HOST: So, Minister, can you tell me what 3G actually is?

ROWLAND: So, the 3G network is really a generation. It started off obviously with 1G. We had 2G networks that utilised spectrum in a certain way. 3G gets a little bit better. G just refers to the evolution of the different generations of technology.

TUBES: Technology, yeah.

ROWLAND: Now, what they go to, it’s things like- how people actually notice it in real life- better data capacity, better speeds, more reliability. So these are actually good things to be developing, and Australians have always been early adopters. I don't know if you've seen in the media today, smartphone sales are really increasing, both because of the switchover but because people want better AI-enable devices. Australians have always been interested in getting the best handsets, the best underlying tech.

And of course governments need to support that as well by having the best quality underlying networks. And of course, the mobile operators need to do that too. So, we're looking for a better experience overall.

But with three weeks to go, my key message is for everyone to check their tech, make sure that they've got devices that are compatible when 3G gets switched over to 4G and 5G.

TUBES: Now, this question comes through on our text line from Annie in Murdunna: ‘For decades now we've had average, at best, mobile service in Murdunna. What's the Government doing for our community here to improve the services? We are literally 50 kilometres as the crow flies from Hobart.

ROWLAND: Well, it's a really good question. And Annie, I think, is asking what a lot of Tasmanians are asking, and that's why aren't mobile operators investing more in these areas, and what can governments do to support that? One of the key things we're doing here is our National Audit of Mobile Coverage that's happening right now. It's happening in Tasmania, and it's the first time that this has actually been done, because we don't have a good sense and a really overall experience of how people are consuming mobile coverage. We've got maps and the carriers put out their maps, but, as I'm sure Annie and your listeners will tell you, they're not based on real life. You'll be in areas where your mobile operator will say, yes, you've got a signal here, but in real life, it's not sufficient to be able to use data to upload and do sometimes even just basic voice and text. So this is happening right now.

We're also utilising Australia Post. We've got Australia Post long-haul vehicles, their delivery vans, and also Australia Post retail outlets right around Tasmania in places from Bicheno to Port Arthur, Queenstown, Strahan, that are measuring, in real time, what that coverage is. So this is really going to be a step change. It's going to be able to inform the carriers about where they need to invest. And importantly, for governments where we need to target investments as well, because governments have a role to play here, but also the mobile carriers.

We need to ensure that we get that really good map of coverage, that's something that- you know, is living, this is running until 2027. And your listeners can actually go right now and check it out. If you just search up the mobile audit visualisation tool, it's pretty cool. You can actually search by carrier, by different roads, by areas, and you can see how that coverage is right now. This is going to be a really important tool going forward to fix exactly what's been a long-standing problem.

And I'll just end by saying, Annie, I totally hear you. So many Australians rely on mobile connectivity not just for their day-to-day usage, but how they transact with government, how they conduct their businesses. So, we understand how important it is, including in natural disasters and emergencies.

TUBES: Absolutely. And I know this technology advances so quickly. Michelle Rowland, it's been a pleasure to talk to you. The Federal Communications Minister, thank you so much for taking the time to chat to us. For those that need more information, as the Minister said, you can text the numeral ‘3’ to the number ‘3498’ to find out whether your device is ready for the 3G network to be switched off.

Michelle Rowland, the Federal Communications Minister, we really appreciate your time on Triple M.