Brisbane’s Courier Mail (www.news.com.au) today reported Queensland Nationals Senator Ron Boswell had reprimanded Telstra for “sending out hundreds of text messages to regional and rural customers” telling them the CDMA network will shut down in January*.
We applaud Senator Boswell’s passion for communications in the bush – this is a passion we share at Telstra. Like Senator Boswell we also welcome healthy debate.
His “rebuke” however, in the form of a media release, suggests the facts are once again in grave danger of being trampled in the run to the ballot box.
According to Senator Boswell, “Telstra seem to believe that they are going to decide when the CDMA network will be switched off. However, they are not factoring in that a draft licence condition has recently been issued by the Minister for Communications, Senator Coonan.”
Critics however never let the facts get in the road of good anecdotal story – so here’s a real life one about how the Next G™ network is already performing better than CDMA.
Last weekend two of Ericsson's engineers were driving between Surat to St George in Queensland’s south west, testing coverage from a new Next G™ tower at a place called Teddington.
An elderly couple had been on their way to Emerald when apparently the driver lost control of the car and it rolled a couple of times ending up on its side. Our guys were first on the scene shortly after and saw the man edge of the road waving for help. One called triple zero for an ambulance using his Next G™ mobile while the other removed the passenger from the car by smashing the windscreen.
Ambulance and Police arrived from Surat in about 20 minutes. Police were keen to know how the ambulance was called so quickly and by all accounts was quite surprised when he learned it was by mobile phone. The accident happened in a spot without CDMA coverage. The Next G™ network had allowed them to respond quickly at the scene.
Senator, the Government can impose licence conditions and audit the network but all it will reveal is that we have done what we have said we would do – provide Australia with a world class mobile network with the same or better coverage of the CDMA network.
Telstra has previously announced that it will meet its commitment to customers of the same or better coverage on the Next G™ network by mid October this year – more than two months ahead of schedule – so the intended switch off date for the CDMA network remains 28 January 2008*.
To suggest that we shouldn’t be advising our customers of this switch off date is irresponsible. We have an obligation to keep our customers informed of the intended 28 January* switch off date and we are doing this in various ways including text messages. If we did not do this then the Government would no doubt be complaining about lack of communication.
We’re confident the new Next G™ network is performing well. That’s why about a month ago we invited all the pollies and rural groups to come for a drive to test the coverage for themselves. We also invited Senator Boswell to help show us his areas of concern. You can read the letter (PDF - 693KB) we sent yourself. Senator, the keys are in the car and the engine’s running. You’re still welcome to join us.
The facts are that the Next G™ network has more than 2000 additional base stations than CDMA with a coverage footprint of over two million square kilometres. Thousands of kilometres of drive testing and network survey work shows the Next G™ network already covers around 400,000 square kilometres more than the aging CDMA network.
We know that Australian consumers are smart enough to see through the political games being played out by our pollies in the media.
Telstra is focussed on making the transition from CDMA to Next G™ a smooth one. Should you have any concerns:
* Like any other mobile network, Next G™ mobile telephone coverage depends in part on where you are, what particular handset you are using and whether your handset has an external antenna attached.
* The CDMA network is now scheduled to close on 28 April 2008.
Update: Telstra accepts postponing CDMA closure and puts customers first 18 January 2008