Telstra urged to 'step up' in services for regional and remote Australians
Telstra has blamed natural disasters for long outages in remote areas of Australia. But does that fully exempt them from blame?
A new report from the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman has revealed that Telstra's connectivity and services are unreliable for many regional Australians, leading to unplanned outages and risks for lives. The report examined complaints from nearly 27,000 regional Australians about the shortcomings of telcos outside of cities.
Ombudsman Cynthia Gebert stated that people are paying more for services, waiting longer to get issues resolved, and face greater risks when telco services fail. Telstra recorded a $2.4 billion profit in its full-year, while its CEO received a substantial bonus, raising questions about the company's commitment to improving connectivity in rural areas.
Telstra faced significant outages recently, including a 40-hour outage following a bushfire in Far North Queensland and a nine-week outage in Wadeye, a remote Northern Territory community, due to severe flooding. Ms Gebert emphasized that Telstra should have better backup systems in place for disaster scenarios and suggested that the company is not adequately preparing for recurring issues in remote areas.
Local businesses, such as Donna-Marie Grieve's printing business in Nhulunbuy, have suffered due to Telstra's unreliable service. She criticized Telstra for charging the same bill despite outages and lack of compensation. The Garma Festival, held near Nhulunbuy, has a temporary Telstra tower that provides better reception, leading to questions about why the company cannot provide similar support to rural communities.
Local member for the north-east Arnhem Land region, Yingiya Guyula, has requested Telstra to relocate the Garma tower to Nhulunbuy as a short-term solution for the community's connectivity issues. Telstra is the only major telco to offer mobile coverage in some of Australia's most remote regions, but the company's general manager in the NT, Nic Danks, acknowledged that providing permanent coverage in remote areas is a complex and resource-intensive process.
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