Telstra

Telstra 5G coverage

Hi Ron N, I saw this on channel 9 early morning news this morning in Melbourne. That is the only link that I can say. As for 5G, we in a regional area have only just got 4G and who knows when 5G might arrive to our area. I do believe that 5G is in Melbourne cbd and a few surrounding areas.
Getting back to 5G "extra", I cannot recall the persons name that make this statement, but I thought is was very interesting, as like you, have not heard of any such proposals.
I normally watch the ABC for my news, but I could not this morning where I was. Both Judy and I were both surprised by the comments made. Sorry mate, this is all I can supply you unless it come up again. Cheers

Thanks John, you just confirmed that we have only got 4G in our area

We have poor 4G in our area and at best crappy 3G, Wagga itself has some 5G but Telstra has a long way to go before even 4G is workable in rural areas

The Labor Government opened the mobile telephone bands up to Vodafone and Optus in the 1980s. To get them started they forced Telecom to offer their bearer systems to link their base stations at discount rates. Lack of competition is just a right wing conspiracy theory.

From my observations, the minor two are only interested in picking the eyes out of the market. That's why they are cheaper and do not have as good a coverage as Telstra.

Hi Peter D,

What you say is true, however, Optus did install infrastructure in some remote places in Australia where Telstra did not have coverage. This gave them somewhat of an edge over Telstra in these areas. Telstra has been playing “catch up” to a certain degree.

There is an area approx 36 km north of Swan Hill around Stoney Crossing where the Telstra signal is very weak. There is an existing Telstra tower and building at Stoney Crossing which has some sort of repeater associated with it, but it is not a Mobile/Cell antenna. Even after repeated requests from the locals, Telstra deemed it not significant enough to warrant putting in a Mobile/Cell antenna.

Optus installed a tower at Kyalite, so the locals all changed their mobile service provider over to Optus.

I agree that for the widest coverage overall throughout Australia, Telstra beats the others hands down.

Macca.

Macca, a lot of those Optus base stations happened as a part of the Federal Government black spot program. Providers had to bid for a group of locations and no one provider was able to monopolise the system. In reality that would mean Optus or Telstra. Best option, a dual SIM phone.

qldcamper, not long ago I read somewhere about a low earth orbit sat system being proposed by an overseas Company. At first I thought it may be Musk's Skylink setup, but apparently not. The story mentioned Australian base station locations, with one here in Darwin and that Telstra was to be the Company maintaining it here. No idea if this was to be the same all across Australia.

This answered my question as to the siting of a collection of 14 sat dishes just on the Darwin side of nearby Palmerston that appeared a while back and recently seeing Telstra vehicles sometimes there.

Now elsewhere there is further confirmation of a setup in the near future called 5G advanced involving Telstra, but it would require new handsets that support it.

As this would be an overseas Company providing the system and Telstra partnering with it, and there being other satellite providers like Skylink doing similar, I don't see how Telstra can itself monopolise the network.

While not a mobile system itself, the Skylink network is able to be used already if your phone can do WIFI Calling.

There are four companies involved in the MBSP. Is there a three SIM phone on the market.

One of those companies, Field Solutions Group, is a MNIP. They are doing their trials with Optus but are expecting to be an "Active Neutral Host RAN." Read through that link and see how they intend to operate.

The following is from - Frequently Asked QuestionsMobile Black Spot Program

2. When will the announced MBSP base station in my area be operational?

Information about the expected timing of the rollout of mobile base stations funded under the MBSP is available on the mobile network operator (MNO) and mobile network infrastructure provider (MNIP) websites:

Field Solutions Group

Optus
Telstra
TPG Telecom (formerly Vodafone)

The rollout sequence is being determined by the MNOs and MNIPs based on various factors, including obtaining local government planning approval, landowner agreement where necessary, and access to existing infrastructure such as power and backhaul.
These rollout schedules are regularly updated as the rollout progresses and subject to change.

Hi PhilD,

Heard one the radio this morning that Telstra along with Ericsson are working with Starlink to develop the system that you mentioned here in Australia. It probably won’t be commercially available for quite some time.

Macca,

Cuppa.

I'm no fan of Telstra's rubbish service and high prices but Telstra does not have "basic obligations" to provide mobile telephone services to anyone.

The provision of these services is based on commercial viability, and Telstra competes with Optus and Vodaphone. As a former Telstra CEO once said "the only time I've seen an Optus van in the bush was because he was lost".

The Federal Government funds "blackspot" mobile coverage initiatives where needed and where where none of the carriers want to operate.

So it is the Federal Government that has chosen not to fund "basic obligations" in your area.

George_M

George, I believe you are incorrect. This link says otherwise.

https://www.telstra.com.au/consumer-advice/customer-service/universal-service-obligation

Last year, cut off by the rivers, I was at Moreton Telegraph Station, around 70kms from here as the crow flies. Twice during that a period a chartered helicopter with a Telstra Tech onboard landed, to 'service' the payphone there. Basically checked it was operational & sprayed a bit of polish on it. A 5 minute job on a phone unlikely to be used at that time as no one could access it except for us who had other communications.

Hardly seems equitable to me when they can fly a chopper in twice for no useful reason, but cannot ensure that basic 3G services are available to a community of 700 people here.

That's just the way it is for mobile services, Cuppa.

"Telstra has a Universal Service Obligation (USO) to ensure standard telephone services (STS) and payphones are reasonably accessible to all people in Australia on an equitable basis, wherever they work or live."

George_M

I'm not too sure what your point is there George. There is a payphone in the community but it is connected to the 3G tower, so goes out with the mobile service.

Anyway & don't really want to get into a blue over this.

Just pointing out that whilst Telstra boasts about it's new services, it still, after a decade of lobbying & promises, fails to provide a basic service to a community which is treated as out of sight, out of mind, because the they get away with it. They have made numerous promises which have none of which have been kept. Last was they would provide fibre optic service to the community at the beginning of 2022. They even put up a public notice near to the council offices saying this. It is still there. That is all they did. Hardly equitable.

Cuppa

The telecommunications USO (as in your link) does not cover mobile services. I don't think that it ever has.

So where the three carriers find the provision of mobile services uneconomic, or just too hard, it falls back to the Federal Government to fund it. Or not. It is the Federal Government's job to resolve inequality in remote areas. Not Telstras.

It's all a bit of a mess, as each party passes the buck to the next one in the chain.

At the end of the day the people of Lockhart River should be chasing their local member, not Telstra (or Optus or Vodafone).

George_M

George, when I spoke of lobbying, I was referring to the that done by the State & Federal members Cynthia Lui & Warren Entsch representing the people of Lockhart as well as the Mayor Wayne Butcher who has used the media at every opportunity to press the community's case for 10 years! I am sure their lobbying has been directed to the right quarters! These people are not silly. The promises which have been made & not kept have come from Telstra.

You have repeated your comment about USO not covering mobile services. If the payphones (I have just returned from town & realised there are two) go via the town's 3G tower & this not covered by the USO, then under the USO there remains an obligation to provide an alternative.

In this day and age it is unbelievable that a community of this size is denied basic & reliable telecommunications. As The mayor has been saying for years people will die as a result sooner or later. It shouldn't need to come to that. When 3G goes down there is nothing, even the health clinic have no access to outside assistance/consultation. *Every* other community on the Cape has a 4G service. There simply is no excuse.

Guys,

This “lack of available reliable service” not just confined to remote areas. Our house is in Wongarra on the Victorian coast approx 17 kms by road to Apollo Bay. We are high up on a ridge, and can see Apollo Bay from our house.

We regularly lose phone signal when the power goes out. These power outages are a regular occurrence during storms. The phone towers rely on a power supply, however there is no back up either battery or generator. Whilst we are not remote, and are not in the same position as those in very remote areas, as has been mentioned by others, we still find ourselves unable to summon help if needed during these outages.

What has exasperated this issue is that the local electricity service provider has decided to remove its emergency response from Apollo Bay, and relocate it to Colac, approx. an hour further away. This means that power outages that used to be able to be assessed within about 15 or 20 minutes, now take three or four times as long, even to be assessed, let alone repaired.

Not really a “third world problem” I know, but just pointing out that these issues are not just isolated to remote areas in Australia.

Macca.

Don't know if things have changed but one of the issues used to be that if Telstra had space available in one of their infrastructures then another provider could demand access to it.

.
Cuppa, don't believe that you in Lockhart River are the only ones with a problem.
I live on Queensland's Sunshine Coast in a high-density leafy suburban area. The Telstra mobile tower is 500 metres away from my home. On a good day I get 2 bars of connectivity, most times only 1 bar. It is not unusual to see neighbours standing on their driveways to make a call. I think "leafy" is a key… when it rains and the leaves get wet we get zero connectivity.
A couple of appeals to Telstra went unanswered. Telstra will sell me a Cel-Fi Go booster for a bit over $1000 but should I need to pay that for a reasonable phone service in suburbia? If I chose to live in some remote area such as Lockhart River I may expect some deprivations, but not in the dense suburbs!
However, I'm not going to move to Lockhart River!!

I do however have a work-around of sorts……. I have a Cel-Fi Go booster in my camper van which reliably provides 3 bars even whilst parked in the garage. Its retransmission is however is needfully limited in distance (to avoid feedback) so its range does not reach to the ends of the house.

Macca & Allan, I do appreciate that Telstra services at locations like yours can be poor & thus frustrating. I may be wrong, but imagine that when you refer to 'bars' they are bars of 4G. 1 or 2 isn't great in this day & age but it is head & shoulders above the the 3 G here, when it is available. The only internet here is via satellite NBN, which drops out with rain. I just got on a couple of minutes ago, haven't had any 'net since yesterday, & it's just started raining again, so I'm rushing to try to post this before we lose it again. The point though is we are an exception, most who call Lockhart home cannot afford NBN, so an entire community without comms when the 3 G goes down. What is taken for granted in all sorts of ways in most of Australia is absent here. We have one shop, & a health clinic run by a few nurses Mon-to Fri. There are no local services like there are down south. 17 kms from Apollo Bay is more easily driveable than 12 hours to Cairns, not that that is possible to drive out during the wet season. The Sunshine Coast would have hospitals, GP surgeries, Vets, Ambulances, SES, etc etc. Here there is nothing available for emergencies except for the phone & folk are as a result far more dependent upon being able to communicate with services at a distance. Imagine if on the Sunshine Coast a cyclone hit. It would prompt the full range of emergency services to go into action, radio broadcasts would be made with info etc etc. Here it could be 3 days or longer before anyone outside even knew a cyclone had hit, & then more delays to work out what was needed & to then send help. I suggest that the need for reliable comms up here is far greater, but what is supplied is far less. For most who live here, they are a stoic bunch who's expectations are far less than those of most Australians, & living here is not a lifestyle choice, it is their only choice. A high proportion of residents have never been anywhere else ...ever. 10 years trying to get the basic service which other Cape communities have!

.
Yes Cuppa, on the Sunshine Coast we do have hospitals etc. It is one reason why I chose to live here although that gained benefit comes at a cost. Like Lockhart River, it just doesn't always come with an assurance of reliable mobile phone connection.
So I do wish you success with improvement to your communication services.

Thanks Allan, but in the unlikely event that Telstra keeps it's promises to the community for improvement, we won't see it. We'll be heading back home to Victoria at the end of the Wet.

"Limited Nationwide", see coverage map............ correction, no 5G in NT