It has been more than 80 days since Telstra and Optus flicked the switch on the 3G mobile network. Hundreds of regional and remote Australians say they can no longer rely on the network and struggle to make calls.

In short:

Regional and rural Australians say their ability to make phone calls has dramatically reduced since the 3G network was switched off in October.

Telstra and Optus shut down 3G to boost the 4G and 5G networks, claiming customer coverage would benefit as a result.

What’s next:

The federal government says there may be a need for regulatory intervention if the situation does not improve.

  • dai@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    1 day ago

    Yeah I was one of the 3G / NextG subcontractors between Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Broken Hill.

    Amps gear was tossed outside the huts and would be collected at an undetermined date.

    The original 3G cabinets were not up to spec, so our crew after installing at many locations needed to revisit sites and install amplifiers. What a waste of resources.

    Was bad enough having to visit some sites due to their location, but twice was a nightmare. Not to mention every time we made changes on the towers we needed to get in each antennas zone, call 000, confirm molly & scrambling codes. To imagine how many of these “Telstra test calls” they would have been receiving during the rollout, poor bastards.