Anger remains over Telstra's impending CDMA closure

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Saturday, 26 April 2008 14:41

Opinion and Analysis

Monday the 28th of April is D-Day for the CDMA network, and while there’s no stopping the closure now, last minute frustrations are being shared with media outlets across Australia. Whether CDMA users like it or not, they’ve got no choice but to switch to Next G – or give up on mobile telephony.

As Telstra’s advertising blitz continues across the nation, warning CDMA customers not to leave the switch to Next G until the last minute, lest they get caught up in the rush and face delays in getting their Next G service connected, anger still simmers in the CDMA owning community.

An ABC radio report quotes Barry Devine, a pensioner “living in the community of Wellingrove about 30 kilometres north-west of Glenn Innes in northern New South Wales” saying that the CDMA closure is  “absolutely ridiculous”.

He tells the ABC it is because “we can't get coverage here, where I had coverage with my old CDMA, I've got no coverage with the Next G” – and that he needs his coverage because he has “chronic lung disease, I'm an unstable asthmatic, I've got heart troubles”. 

Unfortunately, pockets of less than stellar Next G coverage still exist across Australia, despite Telstra’s ongoing efforts to help any and all affected customers.

There can be no doubt that Telstra will have to redouble its efforts yet again, especially after the CDMA network is no longer operational, as it will still remain squarely under the spotlight of the Federal Communications Minister, Senator Stephen Conroy, whose department will continue monitoring the situation and taking calls from concerned citizens.

One organisation that is much happier with the progress of Next G’s coverage is the National Farmers Federation (NFF).

The Canberra Times newspaper quotes NFF spokesperson Brett Heffernan saying that, while earlier surveys had clearly indicated continuing problems with the Next G network and coverage, “many of those concerns had been rectified” over the past few months.

Please read onto page 2.