Dan Warne06 August 2007, 6:48 AM
The Government has today blocked Telstra from shutting down the CDMA mobile network prematurely.
The Government has today blocked Telstra from shutting down the CDMA mobile network prematurely.
The government has added a licence condition to Telstra's telecommunications carrier licence to stop it from shutting down CDMA at the end of the year as planned.
Previously, Telstra had promised Next G coverage would be equivalent to CDMA, but it was not a legally enforceable undertaking.
Senator Coonan said she wrote to Telstra in mid-June suggesting that they move back the CDMA switch-off date to allow more time for the transition from the current CDMA network to Next G, including a full audit of network coverage by the Australian Communication and Media Authority.
Telstra refused to reconsider the switch-off date and said it would instead proceed with its previously announced switch-off date of 28 January 2008.
The legal shackles, which will cost Telstra millions of dollars in ongoing running and maintenance costs for the CDMA network, is the latest blow in an increasingly acrimonious tit-for-tat battle between the American-run telco and the government.
In what the government says is a case of corporation-sized sour grapes, Telstra last week sued the government for failing to award it the $1billion in funding for the Connect Australia program -- money that instead went to arch-rival Optus.
The government almost immediately lashed back, threatening to impose the Next G licence conditions on Telstra. When reporters asked deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile whether he was making a veiled threat, he replied, "There's no veil about it. It is. I mean they know that we will (act)."
Today, the government did just that: imposing strict licence conditions on the telco to legally stop it from shutting down CDMA.
"I have issued a draft licence condition to Telstra that would require them to keep the CDMA network open until the Next G network provides equivalent or better coverage and services, reflecting the public commitments Telstra has already made itself," Senator Coonan said in a statement today.
"The Government makes no apologies for putting consumers first when considering the regulation of Australia’s communications industry."
“Telstra has advised that it will not be able to say whether it has delivered equivalent or better coverage until 15 October this year before their planned shut down of the network on 28 January 2008. This is simply not enough time to ensure that their public commitments have been met,” Senator Coonan said.
“ACMA needs 12 weeks to complete the audits and the Government needs time to consider the findings. The Government must act now to protect regional and rural Australians.”
Senator Coonan said that she had heard first hand about the rising level of consumer concern regarding mobile phone coverage. “I have just spent the last six weeks on the road across Australia and based on the level of frustration in the community, it is clear that this issue needs Telstra’s urgent and genuine attention.
"The Government’s hand has been forced by Telstra’s inaction on consumers’ concerns."