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Over many years the providers & industry have been allowed to manufacture the problem and they now get the opportunity to sell customers the solution with new handsets, all whilst harming competition, increasing profits and cutting costs by shutting down the 3G network.
Will be interesting to see if this applies to Vodafone, as I haven’t seen any messages despite using an imported phone. And the messages I received from Telstra were somewhat justified as the phone is missing B28, but that’s more of a coverage issue.
A shitshow in any case. VoLTE should really have been a core part of 4G and not this tacked on proprietary upgrade.
Vodafone’s 3G network has been switched off for 9 months at this point, I don’t know if customers would still be getting messaging about it. Though there was a section in the article about issues with roaming for international visitors in January:
As a result of the Vodafone 3G switch-off in January, inbound Roaming customers have been receiving text messages advising they will no longer have access to voice, text or data and emergency calling whilst roaming in Australia.
Even customers with 5G iPhones have received such text messages.
It sounds like if you bought your phone from Apple or Samsung or JBHIFI you are stuffed. Can’t believe it.
How is this legal?! So the likes of Telstra are blocking otherwise functional phones?
It sounds like they are over-complying in response to recent legislation:
This is due to an update to the ‘Emergency Call Service Determination’ (ECSD), in the explanatory statement it says:
“Subsection 6(2) directs ACMA to include requirements for providers to identify mobile phones unable to access Triple Zero, notify the user, provide assistance if necessary to access an alternative mobile phone, and cease providing service to the affected device. Providers will also be required to not provide service to a prospective customer seeking service with an affected mobile phone. This requirement makes clear the responsibility providers have to ensure mobile networks provide access to the emergency call service.” […] “The amendments to the Determination to be made under section 6(2) are to be determined and commence in full by 1 November 2024.”
Yea. That’s part of it. Keep reading.
Honestly, I’m sick of this industry and wasting my money on them. I’ll make do with a new $100 phone from the post office in case I need to make an emergency call. 000 will still work even without a sim.
Visit AMTA to check your device.
The author of the article claims AMTA is not a reliable indicator of VoLTE compatibility:
Additionally Tools like the ‘AMTA 3G Lookup Service’ are not accurate or reliable. AMTA knows this, hence why you need to agree to a long list of terms & conditions before using it.
This new ACMA policy is deeply disturbing because many consumers, including myself, own fully functional devices that can make VoLTE calls and emergency calls, yet are deemed “incompatible” by the telcos.
These are devices with the exact same hardware and software as ‘officially supported’ devices, the only difference is the telcos didn’t sell them.
Thanks.
I have a mild headache I haven’t been able shake so I’m putting down my not catching any of that to being super drowsy and zapped.
In fairness it is a poorly written and confusing article (the guy is not a writer by profession, just a telecommunications expert trying to draw attention to the 3G shutdown). I shared the video just in case people had a hard time understanding the main takeaways, since Hugh Jeffreys did a good job summarising them.
Even after running the extra test on Hugh’s app it’s still not clear if my phone will work. I have an unlocked Oppo purchased at JB HiFi and I’m using an ALDI sim so I’m on Telstra’s network. It’s not clear if it’ll work even though I’m using VoLTE because of the above combo.
LOL what a mess.
I just gave up and bought a new (secondhand) phone at the beginning of this year. I returned one of my older phones (Galaxy Note 9) to stock as a backup but I’m not even sure if that will work now because it’s a grey import (even though it has working VoLTE currently and supports all Australian network bands). It’s a bit sad that I have this little collection of otherwise great older phones that still receive updates to their custom ROMs but will now be useless as phones.
This seems like a mess
He published another article recently about exactly that. It sounds like the telcos are putting in less than the bare minimum of effort and the government has been too clueless to hold them to account. And when it does try to legislate it has done so in a nonsensical way that risks hurting more than helping.
Omg I forgot Hugh Jeffreys was a thing. Haven’t watched him in about 4 years!
