That ICPA (Aust) requests that the Commonwealth Government reimburse families in rural and remote areas that have had to purchase satellite equipment needed to regain connectivity that was previously available through the 3G network.
Since the 3G turn-off, many rural areas have found that they no longer have the mobile phone
service that they had previously.
Many people have become accustomed to using their mobile phones to run businesses, communicate with their schools and teachers, make medical appointments, for emergency preparedness and to stay connected to family. Since the 3G switch off, service in many regional and rural areas has become patchy or non-existent where previously service was adequate. The common advice given to these people by Telstra is that they will not regain similar service until a satellite connection such as StarLink is installed.
Many School of the Air families have also used mobile service as a backup avenue of connectivity for their children's lessons, something which is no longer viable. These same families also have the safety of home supervisors and their children in mind. With no mobile service where it used to exist, there is now no easy avenue for emergency communications, especially in schoolrooms using Department provided SkyMuster internet which does not offer wifi connectivity for devices.
Furthermore, with the recent announcement that Telstra is in the process of retiring CAN Radio phones, by 16/11/27 families will be left even more vulnerable. There is a feeling of uncertainty around the reliability and cost of replacement services. This form of landline has been a safety net for those in remote areas when mobile and satellite connections are down and in times of power outage, especially during emergencies.
When ICPA NSW took issues raised from communication motions at State conference directly to Telstra, their advice was for members to contact the Regional Tech Hub. Unfortunately this service has recently been defunded so once again people are feeling let down.
Case Study:
Many of our members that run agricultural business, educate their children from home, travel long and remote distances to get children to school or have family members completing their education in distant locations have had no choice but to install satellite equipment at their own expense.
Case Study:
A family in our area whose children are enrolled in School of the Air used to have reasonable mobile phone service around the house locality. Since the turn off of 3G this service has diminished and can now only be reliably used with the aid of a Cel-fi booster, located in the house. The signal from the Cel-fi does not reach the free standing schoolroom and as a result, in the case of an emergency, the home supervisor would need to leave the schoolroom, potentially leaving an injured child, to access phone service.
Case Study:
A family running a farming business and with children at various locations completing schooling, further education and trades followed the recommendations from Telstra to help restore the mobile service they had whilst 3G was still operating. However, the improvement was minimal and not as good as they had previously. They have now been advised that to enhance their connectivity they will need to install StarLink at their own expense, on top of the cost they have already encountered.
