Telstra delays 3G network shutdown until August amid concerns about access to emergency calls
There are concerns Australia is not ready for the imminent shutdown of the 3G network. (Unsplash: Daria Nepriakhina)
Telstra is delaying its 3G closure amid concerns hundreds of thousands Australians could be blocked from making emergency calls once the 20-year-old network has been switched off.
The telco was due to shut down the network on June 30 but will postpone the closure until August 31 to give Australians more time to upgrade their handsets.
Last month, Telstra revealed about 113,000 customers were still using 3G-only phones which will no longer work once the network is switched off.
But of greater concern is a subset of older 4G handsets that, because of the way they’re configured, default to the 3G network for triple-0 calls. The concern is owners may not realise until they are caught out in an emergency.
The federal government released figures last month suggesting about 1 million Australians fell into that category but according to Communications Minister Michelle Rowland, that figure has now fallen to about 400,000.
“After the switchover, these devices will appear to operate as normal and Australians may only realise there is an issue with the device when they can least afford it,” the minister said in a statement.
“The government welcomes Telstra’s decision to delay its planned 3G switchover.
“Ensuring that more Australians have visibility and an understanding of the 3G switchover is critical to managing it in a safer way.”
The government has set up a working group, comprising Telstra, Optus, TPG, and the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA) to report fortnightly to the minister and ensure a “safer” 3G shutdown.
Shadow Communications Minister David Coleman has blamed the delay on Ms Rowland’s “hapless handling” of the 3G shutdown.
“The minister only set up her ‘Working Group’ in March. If the minister had acted professionally and expeditiously, there would have been ample time to deal with this issue prior to 3G shutdown,” he said in a statement.
Telstra has launched a simple service that customers can use to determine whether their device will be affected: SMS 3 to 3498.
This month, Telstra customers who still need to upgrade their handset will also hear a short voice message when they make an outgoing call to remind them to act.
The plan to switch off the 3G network was announced in 2019 to allow mobile carriers to boost capacity and data speeds for 4G and 5G technologies.
Telstra, Optus which is due to shut down its 3G network in September, and TPG, which closed its network in December, have been actively preparing the public and urging customers to upgrade their 3G-only devices to 4G or 5G.
The closures could also affect a range of devices, including medical alarms, and EFTPOS machines.
The 25 most common devices that may be affected:
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