Is Telstra’s mobile coverage shrinking? Here’s what’s really happening
A new proposal could strip Telstra of a million square kilometres of claimed mobile coverage, but the telco is pushing back.
Network coverage is the geographic area where your phone actually works, allowing you to make calls, send texts and use the internet.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) wants Telstra, Optus and TPG/Vodafone to use the same standard for measuring it.
That way, "coverage" would mean the same thing no matter which mobile provider you're looking at.
ACMA also wants a consistent set of coverage categories: good, moderate, usable, and none, with consumer-facing descriptions to explain the level of service you can expect.
Why is Telstra pushing back?
While Telstra agrees on the need for consistent coverage maps, it's pushing back against the idea that anything weaker than -115dBm should count as 'no coverage'.
"Every month more than 1.5 million customers use our coverage below -115 dBm," Shailin Sehgal, Telstra's Group Executive of Global Networks and Technology, explained.
"In fact, customers make around 57,000 emergency calls using this coverage every year.
"And every day in these coverage areas 700,000 voice calls are made, 750,000 texts are sent and 300TB of data is transferred. That's roughly 100 million photos taken on smartphones."
Telstra also said customers don't need an external antenna or any special equipment to access its full 3 million square kilometres of coverage. The claim, it says, has been confirmed by nationwide third-party drive testing.
Who's on board with ACMA's proposal?
Optus, TPG and the peak consumer body, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), are in favour.
Carol Bennett, chief executive of the ACCAN, explained:
When coverage claims are opaque or potentially exaggerated, there is a significant risk of misleading conduct. For instance, Telstra's widely promoted claim to cover 99.6% of the Australian population is a statistic that plays a major role in consumer choice.
"Despite this, the lived experience of many Australians, especially those in [regional, rural and remote parts of] Australia, differs starkly from the advertised figures. Australians deserve to have access to coverage maps that can be independently verified, transparently compared, and, where necessary, challenged."
ACCAN's submission also notes that recent questions about access to Triple Zero highlight why accurate coverage information matters.
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Why does the Telstra network coverage saga sound familiar?
This debate isn't new. Just last year, TPG challenged Telstra's network coverage claims.
"ACMA says coverage should mean your phone works. Telstra wants coverage to mean your phone might sometimes show a bar, but probably can't make a call," a TPG spokesperson said.
"This is exactly the issue we exposed last year when Telstra was telling Australians their phone would work across three million square kilometres, a footprint that only holds together if you include vast areas where phones often don't actually work."
Optus shared similar sentiments, with a spokesperson saying, "At very low signal levels, phones may sometimes register a signal, but that doesn't mean calls will connect, or data will work reliably."
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