NextG not up to scratch: Farmers

MORE than 70 per cent of farmers in New South Wales say the soon-to-be-closed CDMA mobile phone network is more reliable than the Next G services that replaces.

The NSW Farmers’ Association says a survey of its members found 71 per cent had concerns about the Next G service.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy will next week decide whether to allow Telstra to switch off the CDMA network, which is used extensively in rural and regional Australia.

The CDMA network is scheduled to be turned off on January 28 – but only if government is satisfied that the Next G mobile coverage is the “equivalent or better” than the service it replaces.

Association president Jock Laurie said farmers still had concerns with aspects of the Next G network, including call drop outs, handset performance, car-kit reliance, poor and unreliable reception and Message Bank problems.

“The Association has passed on the survey results to the National Farmers’ Federation, who are in discussions with the Federal Government regarding farmers’ feedback on Next G,” Mr Laurie said.

“People in rural communities rely on their mobile phones as a safety mechanism to be able to call for help in the event of an emergency – so the network must be reliable,” Mr Laurie said.

“A common problem reported by Members was calls going straight to Message Bank despite the handset indicating there was a signal,” Mr Laurie said.

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Nationals dig in over CDMA closure

FEDERAL Nationals leader Mark Vaile has moved to reassure regional phone users that Telstra will not be allowed to switch off its CDMA mobile phone network until its coverage is matched by the new Next G service.

Mr Vaile told a meeting of Queensland Nationals in Brisbane that Telstra would not be allowed to access any Federal funding to upgrade its Next G network in regional areas.

Although Government has committed funding to regional communications, including $958 million in new money for the bush, and the $2 billion “future proofing” fund.

“I want to emphasise that we will not be using money from the Communications Fund to bring Telstra's Next G network up to scratch,” Mr Vaile said.

“We will simply not allow Telstra to switch off the existing CDMA network until you are satisfied with the coverage and reliability of its replacement,” he said.

“They don't just have to convince the Government: they have to convince you, the consumers.”

The Nationals appear fully intent on ensuring Telstra chief executive Sol Trujillo meets commitments made in the Nationals party room in Canberra that the next-generation Next G mobile phone coverage would be as good or better in regional Australia than the CDMA network it replaces.

The Nationals secured the commitment from Mr Trujillo prior to the party agreeing to the T3 sale of Telstra shares.

The CDMA network is scheduled to be switched off early next year. The Government has the power to force Telstra to maintain CDMA until its Next G service is comparable.

The CDMA is the only mobile network that covers much of regional, rural and remote Australia, and is relied on by many communities in heartland Nationals territories.

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Telstra signs $85m rail network deal

TELSTRA will build 77 new Next G base stations in regional Australia as part of an $85 million deal to provide communications services to the Australian Rail Track Corporation.

Under the agreement, Telstra’s Next G network will be used by the ARTC to replace nine separate communications systems across 10,000 kilometres of track.

It will be used to replace a series of older technologies, like two-way radio and CDMA devices. It will also provide mobile coverage for the company – and for travellers – for the interstate rail network, from Brisbane to Perth (via Melbourne and Broken Hill) and in the Hunter Valley.

The agreement improves coverage in tunnels and across the Nullarbor, and will see the introduction of new communications equipment for more than 700 locomotives, backed up with satellite if necessary.

ARTC chief executive David Marchant, said once completed, all trains and train controllers would be able to use the one system to communicate with each other across the entire national rail network.

“A single national communication system will greatly improve operational efficiency and reduce costs associated with managing multiple platforms,” Mr Marchant said.

“This national rail network communications backbone will be the envy of the North American and European rail networks. ARTC’s approach is to contract our communications delivery, which in itself is a major shift for the rail industry.

“ARTC has chosen Telstra because its Next G™ network provides depth and breadth of high speed coverage coupled with reliable performance – a framework for continuous updating and improvement,” Mr Marchant said.

Telstra chief executive Sol Trujillo said the ARTC decision was a strong endorsement of the Next G technology.

“Not only does today's agreement provide the best possible communications system for ARTC's national rail network, it also provides Next G mobile coverage for the first time in some remote and regional towns such as Rawlinna (in WA), Cook and Nackara (SA), and Loadstone and Telegraph Point (NSW)."

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Coonan holds Telstra to 3G promise

GOVERNMENT has completed the first of two audits on regional mobile telephone coverage aimed at ensuring Telstra honours promise that its Next G network will match or exceed the coverage of its older CDMA.

Communications Minister Helen Coonan said in a statement government was closely scrutinising the rural coverage audits as well as Next G handset availability to ensure consumers were not penalised by Telstra’s move to 3G technology.

At the height of the debate over the T3 sale last year, Telstra announced it planned to shut down the existing CDMA network in January next year, but committed to making its Next G mobile network coverage as good or better than CDMA.

Senator Coonan said she welcomed Telstra’s announcement last week of a Next G upgrade that included new cell technology with a 200 km range and higher speeds, but reminded Telstra of its commitment nonetheless.

“The Government is also mindful of Telstra ensuring there is a smooth transition to the new network for its customers, particularly those living in rural, regional and remote areas,” Senator Coonan said.

It is a sensitive issue in the bush, where Telstra CDMA is often the only available network and is heavily relied on. And in an election year, nothing is being left to chance.

“An independent audit comparing Next G coverage with CDMA coverage is a key part of verifying Telstra’s public assurance that it will not shut down the CDMA network until Next G provides the same or better coverage and services,” Senator Coonan said.

“Even if this assurance is met, Telstra has stated that the CDMA network will not be switched off before 28 January 2008,” she said.

A working group established by the Minister is currently considering other issues relating to the CDMA-Next G transition, such as the information Telstra is providing customers, handset availability, coverage, and contractual matters.

But it is network coverage that is most critical – both to rural and regional Australians, and to a Government seeking re-election.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has now completed its audit of CDMA at a broad selection of about 100 sites across the country. The sites include flat, mountainous and average terrain, wet rice-growing country and river flats, and while they include the city and regional centres, the focus was on rural, regional and remote areas.

The field tests and analysis of CDMA coverage was the first of two national audits to be completed this year. The second will test coverage of the Next G network once Telstra advises that the new network is fully deployed.

Regardless of Telstra’s newly majority-private state, mobile phone coverage is a critical issue in rural electorate all over Australia.

The Nationals’ support of the T3 Telstra share offer was not won until it had it had a firm commitment from the company and from the government that the Next G third generation mobile network coverage would be the same or better than the CDMA network on which rural Australians rely.

Queensland Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce and NSW Nationals Senator Fiona Nash both actively and aggressively lobbied both inside and outside the joint partyroom to make sure mobile coverage did not suffer either because of the sale or because of the move the 3G technology.

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Election year jitters as Telstra cranks Next G

JUST days after announcing surging profits from wireless data traffic, Telstra has cranked up speeds on its Next G third generation mobile network from 3.6Mbps to 14.4Mbps.

In addition to quadrupling the Next G data transfer rates, the company also announced plans to extend the effective range of Next G cells in regional centres from 50 kilometres to 200 kilometres.

Telstra says the improved geographic range of the Next G cells will ultimately provide network coverage to 98.8 per cent of the Australian population.

The company said the extended cell coverage made the Next G system the first in the world to switch on the 200 kilometre-range cells.

Telstra chief executive Sol Trujillo said more than 400,000 subscribers had signed up to Next G since the third generation network went live last October.

Politically, the company needs its world-first 200 kilometre cell technology to succeed.

Telstra has already said it will switch off its ageing CDMA network – which is the only mobile system available to many rural and regional Australians – in January next year.

It has also promised its Next G network would provide the same or better coverage before the CDMA network is turned off. The Nationals in Canberra – NSW Senator Fiona Nash and Queensland Senator Barnaby Joyce – intend on making sure Telstra keeps that promise.

Regardless of Telstra’s majority-private ownership, in an election year mobile coverage in the bush is an issue the Nationals are prepared to die in a ditch over.

Mr Trujillo used the weekend Next G upgrade announcement to talk up the coverage issue.

“This is a major leap from the 50 kilometre range that was typically supported on our Next G network, and is an important step towards equaling, and in some cases exceeding existing CDMA coverage,” Mr Trujillo said.

Briefing analysts in Sydney last week, Mr Trujillo said Telstra had topped one million 3G mobile subscribers, with a total of 415,000 Next G customers – and that the average revenue per user for these 3G users was $20 per month higher than 2G customers.

The improved multimedia capabilities of the Next G network was changing the way customers used their phones and further driving data traffic, Mr Trujillo said.
“Our Next G customers are using their devices differently to drive dramatic change in usage patterns, migrating from basic voice to content-rich applications,” he said.

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