Press conference, Sydney

MICHELLE ROWLAND, MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS: Thanks, everyone. Well, this morning, I'm delighted to be here at the New South Wales Rural Fire Services Headquarters joined by the New South Wales Minister for Emergency Services, the Honourable Jihad Dib, with the RFS Commissioner, Rob Rogers, and also David Jochinke, the National Farmers' Federation President, for a really exciting announcement.

Today, I'm announcing that the Government is expanding the universal services regime to include, for the first time, mobile services. This is all part of making Australia better and safer for everyone. It is the mission that the Albanese Government is dedicated to.

This is absolutely a world-first. The Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation, or UOMO, will require mobile providers to provide equitable access to baseline outdoor mobile coverage services. This will apply right around Australia and to all mobile operators.

It will benefit remote, regional and peri-urban communities. It will transform access to Triple Zero emergency services and it will expand public-safety connectivity.

It is expected that this policy will add up to 4.7 million kilometres of new coverage around Australia for mobile services. It will also enable SMS and voice coverage, including an estimated 35,000 kilometres of new regional roads and highways.

We've heard from stakeholders about the importance of mobile services to their regions and the concern that the current universal framework for telecommunications services is not fit-for-purpose. It does not cover such a critical form of connectivity, particularly given its significance in times of emergency. This technology supports public safety objectives and should be available to everyone.

This is part of the Albanese Government's mission to make Australia the most connected continent on Earth. The Obligation will require Telstra, Optus, and TPG to provide access to mobile SMS and calling in areas currently without mobile coverage by leveraging technology such as Low Earth Orbit satellites or LEOSats.

Despite significant investments over the years by government and industry in the terrestrial mobile infrastructure network, the provision of traditional mobile coverage to 100 per cent of this vast continent is unviable. However, new direct-to-device, or D2D, LEOSat technology is on the horizon, which will provide new and innovative ways to connect.

Direct-to-device technology using LEOSats is a gamechanger. The capability is initially expected to provide baseline connectivity like text messaging, then voice calls, and, in time, limited mobile data, directly to most modern mobile phones outside of the coverage area that's currently provided by land-based systems.

It basically means that irrespective of where you are in Australia, you will be able to obtain mobile coverage almost anywhere as long as you can see the sky.

D2D technology allows mobile network operators to use spectrum they already own to supplement their existing terrestrial coverage with services provided by satellite. And, because LEOSats orbit close to the Earth, they're able to provide services to mobile phones that were originally manufactured to communicate exclusively with terrestrial mobile networks.

The introduction of D2D will be a vital safety net, expanding areas where the community will be able to make free calls to Triple Zero. Access to text SMS services will provide further ways for people to connect in times of emergency. This will substantially expand the scope for people who seek help if they're lost, injured, or facing natural disasters in areas without traditional mobile coverage.

It also gives consumers more connectivity options if networks are damaged or unavailable as mobile networks are required to carry all Triple Zero calls over their networks, including from their competitors’ customers. As D2D technology prepares to roll out, it is essential that government and industry work together to make sure that Australia is prepared to maximise the benefits to the community from this technology.

Now, industry is already moving to implement agreements to launch access to D2D mobile services supplied over LEOSats, and it is not the Government's intention to impede these important commercial processes. However, we need to ensure that new technology will be equitably available. There is a role for both industry and government to ensure this objective. The Government will consult closely with industry before bringing forward framework legislation this year, with the obligation itself to commence as the market evolves and Australia's national mobile network operators start offering commercial D2D.

Broadly, industry is targeting the availability of D2D messaging from late this year, followed by voice from 2026 onwards. Implementation of outdoor SMS and voice is expected by late 2027, with many Australians likely to be able to obtain access before that time. Different D2D LEOSat services and commercial arrangements with each carrier will have distinct timeframes, and the Outdoor Mobile Obligation framework will accommodate flexibility while setting expectations.

The Government will work with stakeholders and industry to get this legislation right. We will include flexibility, where warranted, by supply, spectrum, and other factors. The Albanese Government will also engage with industry and examine incentives and removal of barriers to support public-interest objectives and competition outcomes. Let me be clear. We want competition in the provision of these services because competition on the supply side, as well as the retail side, means better services and lower prices for consumers.

It is also important that people know which devices will be able to access D2D services, and the Government will work with our regulators to ensure there is clear and accurate information to the public on this. The Government remains committed in co-investing in mobile coverage at the traditional level, and capacity improvements and fixing broadband, to help improve overall connectivity right across Australia.

Let me be clear: this is not about replacing traditional mobile connectivity across Australia or coverage with the new technology. It will complement existing networks and complement the existing Universal Service regime, but it will ensure that we cover as much of Australia as possible and the whole community will benefit from this technology.

In closing, this is the first step towards modernising the now out-of-date Universal Service Obligation. The Government expects to make further announcements in future about opportunities for reform, including in respect of the recommendations of the 2024 Regional Telecommunications Review. This is all about expanding Triple Zero access for all Australians across the nation. It's about providing outdoor voice and SMS in existing mobile blackspots, and it's about improving the availability of mobile signals during disasters and power outages.

I'll now hand over to my colleague, Minister Jihad Dib, to talk further about how this will substantially create a better and safer Australia for everyone.

MINISTER JIHAD DIB: Well, good morning and thanks so much, Minister Rowland. It's wonderful to be here with you. I want to thank also the Commissioner of the RFS for not only being here, but also enabling us to use this place as well as New South Wales farmers.

What we've seen is the impact of such an announcement. I've got to say at the outset, I wear two hats in this particular time. One is the Minister for Emergency Services and the other one is the Minister for Digital Government in New South Wales. I've developed an incredibly close and solid working relationship with Minister Rowland, and I want to commend her and congratulate her on the leadership that she has shown on that national level.

We've been talking about the importance of communication and making sure that there's always communication available, and what's been really clear with Minister Rowland and the Albanese Government is, they're not just going to talk about it, but they're actually doing something about it. And they're doing something to protect and provide services for the people right across Australia.

New South Wales is an incredibly vast area and, whether we like it or not, there are some parts just do not have any coverage. Communication is key but it becomes critical, particularly in times of natural disaster and in the case of emergencies. An initiative like this will make an enormous difference, not only to the safety of communities, but also to making sure that it supports our first responders, our emergency services, those heroes who put themselves in harm's danger to protect our communities.

I'm incredibly excited to be able to be here, and so proud of the Albanese Government and the leadership that Minister Rowland has shown in being able to not only identify a problem but to create the solution and to ensure that we will make a difference. Something like this, you would hope that you never need to use it but it's so incredibly important to know that it is there. We don't want any situations where people need mobile reception, they need to contact the emergency services, and they can't do that. This initiative, this announcement, and this policy by the Albanese Government, will make all of the difference in the world, and I'm really grateful for that. We welcome this wholeheartedly, and we're just so thankful that this important step, this game-changer is now in play. Thanks so much and I'll hand over to Commissioner Rogers.

COMMISSIONER ROB ROGERS: Thanks, Minister. And firstly, congratulations, Minister Rowland, on the announcement. We've seen, as Minister Dib said, in New South Wales, and indeed a lot of Australia, is very vast and it's not part of an urban area or a connected road system.

There's a lot of money being spent federally and by state governments on trying to map mobile blackspots, but it's never going to plug those gaps.

Whether it's people that are in danger from flood, fire, people that are in road crashes in remote areas, this can mean the difference between people staying alive or not.

It's always problematic trying to get help to people in remote areas, because you've got to know exactly where they are. And we've seen instances of people being lost, sporadic text message ability. We had that young fellow that was down in the Snowy Mountains that was lost for some days, and it was luckily found. But those things don't always come with a good outcome, and this will give, obviously, the tools for emergency services and police to be able to find people quick and get help to them.

In the 2019-20 bushfire season we sent out, as RFS, more than two million text messages to residents of New South Wales warning them of threat of fire. Now, where there's no mobile phone coverage or landline coverage, that disappears into a black hole and there's always people we don't get to. This has the ability to fill those gaps and to make sure that anyone that's in danger from a natural hazard, or anything else for that matter, that they can be communicated with and warned about what is coming and what they need to do about it to keep them safe. That's why Emergency Services are here, to protect people, and this is another tool in the toolbox for us to make sure that we can provide those services to people.

So, I congratulate the Federal Government Minister Rowland on this. It's a great initiative, and it sets a framework to make sure that telecommunications authorities will design systems that work for the citizens of Australia. Thank you.

DAVID JOCHINKE, NATIONAL FARMERS’ FEDERATION: G’day. I’m David Jochinke from the National Farmers' Federation. Farmers of Australia welcome today's announcement. Not only is it complementary to the terrestrial network that we have, but it fills an all that important gap where we see no coverage, or little coverage at best.

Alongside the Regional Tech Hub and the On Farm Connectivity Program grant, this demonstrates the Government's commitment to ensuring the betterment of agriculture and farmers in general.

We see many areas of Australia that do not have any coverage, but those areas are still productive land. We want to make sure that we continue to look after our farms, to ensure that we're productive, but then also look after our people.

This is the ability for us now to get complete coverage, to make sure that we have got that connection and making sure that we are looking after the most important asset, and that is the people who work within agriculture.

We also understand that, as a complementary measure, that we won't lose any other capacity as a network currently stands and, for us, that's really important. As one of the greatest barriers in agriculture, connectivity allows us to market, allows us to get good information about weather events, but then also, in the event of safety, ensure that we are protecting our people.

I know firsthand what it's like to be in the back of a fire truck and not being able to either get a call or a message out. And even on the safety side of things, this will be one of the biggest gamechangers for us as volunteers as well.

We would like to commend the Government and acknowledge that this is something that we are slowly developing. We also understand that we want this to be affordable for all participants. So, we look to partner with government to ensure that we can achieve these outcomes and understand that this is just another piece to a bigger puzzle of solving the communication issues across Australia. We welcome the announcement.

MINISTER ROWLAND: So everyone, happy to take questions on this first and then any other matters.

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible question]

MINISTER ROWLAND: Well, I'll say two things. Firstly, this is intended to be complementary to the existing regime. So, the inclusion of mobile services provided by LEOSat is intended to ensure that, irrespective of where someone, if you can see the sky you get access, but it will be complementary.

But the second thing I'll say about payphones is that they remain incredibly important to communities. Not only are they free but they provide access to some of the most vulnerable people in Australia, and they now also provide WiFi services. So, the adaptation of the traditional payphone, which is now essentially a free phone, remains incredibly important. The Government remains committed to that, and we recognise that, in future, this system should develop more. But in the meantime, we have no plans to get rid of payphones at all. In fact, we welcome the continuing innovation that is arising from them.

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible question]

MINISTER ROWLAND: Well firstly, we welcome the entry of LEOSat services into Australia. They are providing access to some particularly remote parts of Australia that otherwise would never have had access. This is an exciting technology; the Government has embraced it from day one; and, that is why we are looking to this technology for this new obligation for mobile services.

Secondly, as I said, we want to see competition in both the retail and the supply space, and we know that there are other providers who were entering the market, like AST, Link, Amazon, for example. We know that there are commercial negotiations that are taking place, and we want to ensure that whatever we do complements those.

But the third point I will make is this, we deal with all operators in Australia on a professional basis. This is a highly-regulated area, we have robust legislation. This is an area where the Government has a framework that is working, we will continue to work within that, but, again, I stress ultimately this policy is about Australian consumers. It's about safety. That is what is motivating us in making this announcement and the framework is designed to achieve that objective, to maximise the safety of our citizens and to ensure that, irrespective of where people live, they have that equality of access.

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible question]

MINISTER ROWLAND: Well, that will depend. The question goes to whether handsets will need to be updated. That will depend on how these services are configured by the individual mobile network operators. But again, an instructive point in recent memory - during the LA bushfires T-Mobile, which is a major provider in the United States, opened up their direct-to-device capability to, basically, everyone, and these are people using standard 4G or 5G handsets. And they were able to send thousands and thousands of texts and ensure that they were delivered. So, clearly, this capability works when it’s opened up.

And as to whether those devices will need to be upgraded depends on the type of technology that is deployed. But it is very clear that, even on current usage in those circumstances, this is capable of working. The software is capable of being configured to working with existing ones. But again, we will continue to monitor this as we implement this because we know that that’s an important issue for consumers.

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible question]

MINISTER ROWLAND: Well indeed, this is the reason why this will be complementary to the terrestrial network. There will be some parts of Australia where obtaining a terrestrial network coverage is simply never feasible. But this will provide access irrespective of where people are - as long as you can see the sky, you’ll be able to get mobile signal. And, again, we know that depending on the type of technology and understanding that this technology is still developing, it is impacted in some cases by rain fade or other weather events. But the technology continues to improve apace.

It was only a couple of years ago that people would never have heard of LEOSat technology, and now it's in the popular vernacular. So, I look forward to, over the next couple of years as this technology develops, as both SMS and voice services continue to improve, that we will see the ability to overcome some of those constraints. But in the meantime, it's precisely the reason why this should be seen as complementary to the terrestrial network.

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible question]

MINISTER ROWLAND: Well, we continue to invest as part of our package as a government in improving connectivity right around Australia, and particularly in our regions. We have programs such as Mobile Network Hardening to help improve the longevity of life of towers during natural disasters, we have the Mobile Black Spot Program, and round eight is currently open, so we will continue to invest in these areas. And, again, this is complementary to the work that we are doing now.

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible question]

MINISTER ROWLAND: We're undertaking this consultation process, and there's nothing arbitrary about it. We are ensuring that this meets the objective of having a robust plan in place for our social media access limits for children under the age of 16. We said that we would take the time until the end of this year to implement it, and we're undertaking that consultation right now. I would also point out that our age assurance trial continues apace, and that this is a policy that has been widely welcomed across Australia. We know, again, that this is a world-first, just like the policy we have announced today. But again, that's one of the reasons why we need to get this right. We need to ensure that there is a proper consultation process in place, and that's what is happening right now.

JOURNALIST: [Inaudible question]

MINISTER ROWLAND: Our focus as a government is on our citizens. It's on their safety and security. That includes in the online environment, that includes access to emergency services. So, irrespective of any area of policy, that is our primary objective. But again, we deal with all these matters within the portfolio in a professional way. We have established legislative and regulatory frameworks in everything from online safety to telecommunications, and we ensure that they are implemented properly by independent regulators. So to the contrary, this is a Government that engages with our closest and dearest ally, irrespective of which administration may be occupying the White House, and we will continue to do that in every aspect of public policy.

Okay. Thanks, everyone.