Telcos seek to 'rebuild trust' with mobile roaming during disasters
Australia's three major telcos will work together to implement mobile roaming during severe weather events in regional areas, but some still want it legislated.
From October 1, major Australian telcos Telstra, Optus and TPG will activate temporary disaster roaming (TDR) during severe weather events when their own network goes down. The service will only be available in areas outside major cities where another network exists, meaning it won't work in large parts of regional Australia serviced by a single provider.
Telcos will decide when to switch roaming on and off, but accountability measures remain unexplored. Customers will still be able to make calls, send texts, and access limited data, though high-speed data will be reduced. TDR is already in place in some form in countries like the US and Japan, with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission confirming its feasibility in 2023.
Regional Independent MP Helen Haines has advocated for the service, describing it as a "game changer." The telcos believe they are best placed to manage the initiative, as they have full visibility of network capacity. However, the government has not mandated TDR, leaving the responsibility in the hands of the telcos.
Written by urgent.news from ABC News AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
