Gov't to audit coverage of Telstra's 850MHz 3G network

Stuart Corner
Monday, 14 August 2006 16:14

IT Policy - Regulation

Communications minister, senator Helen Coonan, has confirmed plans for her promised audit of the voice service coverage of Telstra's existing CDMA network in order to ensure that its replacement 850MHz WCDMA network will provide equivalent coverage.
CDMA coverage will be checked through mapping and field testing in what the government promises will be "a sufficient number and mix of regional, rural and urban representative areas to give a high degree of certainty to the results."

The audits, to be conducted by the ACMA, will assess voice coverage of more than 80 sites across different states and topographies - including city and regional centres - but with the focus on the less well served rural, regional and remote areas. It will cover a representative sample of sites including flat, mountainous and 'average' terrain, as well as wet rice-growing country and river flats. ACMA will then audit coverage of the new network further into the rollout and compare the two.

Data service coverage, however, will not be audited. The expected data coverage has been the subject of some controversy with reports that the network will not deliver the bandwidth promised at the distances from the base station claimed. The reports have been refuted by Telstra and its supplier, Ericsson.

Coonan said: "While the Government has welcomed Telstra's decision to undertake a major investment in telecommunications infrastructure, particularly in regional Australia, some consumers are concerned about the coverage of the new 3G850 network. Telstra has given public assurances that the CDMA network will remain in place until the new national 3G850 network provides the same or better coverage and services."

The latest move follows the establishment in February 2006 of a working group made up of representatives from the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, ACMA and Telstra to monitor the transition process.

Coonan said: "The working group is examining a number of key issues relating to the transition, including Telstra's customer engagement and information provision strategy, transitional customer issues such as handsets, the progress of Telstra's trials, data services issues, external stakeholder information strategy, audits of coverage, and license and contractual matters."