Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Saturday, 26 April 2008 15:41
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
The NFF’s Brett Heffernan is quoted as saying that; "While there are still pockets of problems out there, we are urging farmers to get in touch with Telstra and urging Telstra in turn to fix those problems.”
And affected new Next G customers who previously received satisfactory CDMA coverage have been doing just that, both by calling Telstra’s free CDMA/Next G hotline on 1800 888 888, and if their issue has remained ‘unresolved’, have taken to calling the Federal Department of Communications on 1800 883 448 – as the department and the Minister for Communications have officially advised.
According to the ABC Radio
report, Telstra’s Country Wide CEO, Geoff Booth, has advised that voice traffic on the CDMA network has greatly diminished in recent months.
While Booth refuses to give specific details, he is quoted as saying: “The number that I'm prepared to discuss that we've got very little traffic, actual traffic calls going over the network. There's been an absolutely dramatic reduction in the number of calls and now it's almost negligible.”
Telstra has also publicly stated that the AUD $60 million per year it has had to spend in maintaining the ageing equipment of the CDMA network can now be directed into strengthening, expanding and maintaining the Next G network.
Of course, funds are already been spent on that, but freeing up $60 million per year is a hefty piece of change that can surely make a difference.
So, what other comments have there been regarding CDMA’s closure, including one from Telstra’s biggest fan? Please read onto page 3.
