Hi Petition Signers,
Getting close to 9,500 signatures, with 10,000 not far away!
A bit of a mixed update with some interesting developments.
On Wednesday (26/02) the Rural and Regional Affairs Committee released their final report for the 3G Shutdown Senate Inquiry.
Unfortunately, the report is very barebones, even for those in regional areas now with no coverage.
The report leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion. There's a lot more that can and should be done.
It seems the Government wanted to get out in front of the recommendations of the report and on Tuesday the Communications Minister Announced a policy that would require the telcos to provide mobile services 'Direct to Handset' via Low Earth Orbit Satellites. (e.g Starlink)
However, all the Minister announced was the Telco's own roadmap, the 'Direct to Handset' services are still very much in development, and at this stage it's essentially vapourware.
It's not even remotely a solution to those in remote and regional areas now with poor coverage post 3G shutdown.
Telstra has said themselves we could expect to see basic SMS sometime later this year, with basic voice services possibly available in late 2027!
That's provided the development goes to plan.
The Hearing with the Department
As mentioned in the last Petition update, the hearing with the Department of Infrastructure was adjourned until the 12th of February.
The hearing was interrupted by a division but there were some interesting findings from that hearing.
As discussed at the Senate Hearing on the 5th, we heard that last year there was an incident on a farm in regional NSW where the people on the ground were unable to call 000. There was unfortunately a loss of life in that incident.
First responders from that incident report they made several unsuccessful attempts to make an emergency call from the property, and it was only on the last call that they got information through, before that call also dropped out.
Telstra then went on ABC Country Hour Radio last year to say "there were no failed calls to triple’o.... There were no dropouts", we then found out at the Hearing on 12 February that appears to have been a lie, there were multiple failed calls to 000 detected on the network as confirmed by the Department.
Telstra now denies it has anything to do with the 3G Shutdown, even though there are widespread complaints in regional areas about dropped calls and call quality issues post shutdown.
Telstra also deleted their old interactive 3G Coverage map and have only recently re-uploaded it as a picture after the Inquiry. Talk about malicious compliance. There is no way to compare coverage at a given location with that picture.
All the shutdown has managed to achieve is risk lives, harm competition and undermine essential communication, and all of it was entirely foreseeable. All of it to benefit the telcos bottom line and the next quarter's earnings.
Questions on Notice for the Department
At the 12 February hearing the Department was also provided with questions from a number from Senators to be answered on Notice. (Later in writing)
The Committee asked for those responses back by the 14th of February so they could complete the report.
Though nothing from the Department was received either by Friday the 14th or even a week later on the 21st.
However 1 day prior to the release of the final report, the Department of Infrastructure (Communications) provided their answers to the questions taken on notice from the hearing.
It seems the response was intentionally delayed until the 25th.
It was only provided to the Committee Secretariat that day and uploaded to the APH website in the late afternoon/evening!
The question responses can be found in Document #15 at the link below, or via Google Drive.
Additional Documents - Answers to Questions on Notice
https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Rural_and_Regional_Affairs_and_Transport/3GNetworkShutdown/Additional_Documents
There are some very pointed questions in there, and it seems the Department doesn't want to take responsibility for anything, even though they are largely responsible for this mess, along with the Minister.
There are very serious safety issues that aren't being addressed, in addition to the clearly unlawful behaviour of the telcos blocking perfectly capable phones they didn't sell.
Straight from the political satire 'Yes Minister', it seems the Department is following the rule of "never look into anything you don't have to".
When asked "Does the Department believe it’s possible the telcos may be blocking 000 capable devices in error due to inaccurate or limited historical call data for 4G 000 calls?"
The response is "The Department does not have any evidence at this time indicating there is systemic misclassification of device capabilities."
They were also asked "Has anyone at the Department reviewed the lists of the devices blocked and not blocked by each telco? Both for accuracy and consistency between networks?"
The response.
"No. [...]"
They were also asked "Is the Department aware that Vodafone removed a large number of '4G 000 affected' devices from their website in late July/August 2023? Did TPG/Vodafone inform the Department (or ACMA) at that time, or did TPG just quietly remove those affected VoLTE Capable devices from their website without telling the Department, ACMA, ACCC, their customers or the public?"
The response.
"The Department does not routinely monitor mobile network operator websites."
For reference, the Department wouldn't become aware of the scale of that issue until late February 2024.
They also refused to directly answer "Has the Department received any assurances from telcos that their internal processes for identifying ‘4G 000-capable’ devices are robust and free from errors?"and "What happens if someone is able to connect to the network with a device that 'hardware compatible' but 'software incompatible' and is unaware they can't call 000? Does the Department believe this is currently possible or happening?"
Another question asked "What recourse do customers have if their device is blocked in error as it can still call 000 on 4G? And what if the Telco refuses to unblock their compatible (4G ‘000 capable’) device?"
The response was, "If an end user believes their device has been blocked in error, their service provider is best placed to address questions [...]. If a customer is unsatisfied with their service provider’s response, they could raise their concerns with the [...] (TIO). Australians can also make a complaint to the ACMA about carrier non-compliance with the [...] (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2019."
The TIO technically has no power, they are just a dispute resolution agency and are quick to close cases, however the ACMA does have powers here but they refuse to use them!
The question is, is this incompetence or regulatory capture?
What's the point of a regulator if they don't regulate?
The telcos have basically been gaslighting their customers and the public this entire time. Saying a device doesn't support VoLTE when it does or saying a device can't make Emergency Calls over 4G when it can (and has done so multiple times).
Even when presented with clear evidence something works they then invent some other 'reason' why the device is 'incompatible', often shifting the blame to the handset manufacturer, whilst simultaneously refusing to provide any proof to explain why they blocked the device in the first place.
The Department also rejected the notion that the telcos should be forced to formally publish the lists of blocked devices (in a spreadsheet) with the technical reasons why something is blocked or not.
Short of someone leaking the full technical data from the telcos (which would be nice to see), I don't see that information being made public any time soon. Vodafone still has no online TAC Checker tool.
Telstra VoLTE Changes & Open Market Devices
In early February (sometime between the 9th and 15th) Telstra unblocked a number of newer Xperias, including the (SEA) Xperia 1 III XQ-BC72 and various Japanese Xperia 1 II's and 1 III's.
(Though many of the US, EU, SEA models are still blocked).
- 35510610 - Xperia 1 SOV40 Japan (au)
- 35129005 - Xperia 1 II XQ-AT42 Japan (SimFree)
- 35955510 - Xperia 1 II SO-51A Japan (docomo)
- 35088339 - Xperia 1 III A101SO Japan (SoftBank)
- 35493043 - Xperia 1 III XQ-BQ72 (TW, SEA, HK)
When I saw this I thought that quite odd, as these devices haven't received any Android 15 Updates like the recently (Telstra) unblocked Xperia IV's, V's and VI's.
Japanese tourists that would have been looking to use those devices here would have been blocked from all services even when Roaming, so I don't doubt some complaints from Sony or Japanese Carriers are part of the reason why these devices have been unblocked.
As those Xperias have now been classified as "Unblocked" (and not "Function Limited") it prompted me to test some devices again. (Which is difficult because they've basically blocked them all).
After doing some testing last week, I've found that at some point within the last month or so Telstra has made changes to their network to allow Generic 'Open Market' VoLTE Profiles to register and obtain Call Service!
The 'Open Market Device' profile is supposed to be a generic VoLTE configuration that can work on all devices and networks globally.
A Telstra specific modem configuration (or the latest GSMA profile) is now no longer required to obtain call service on Telstra, even Generic/Global (GSMA IR.92) VoLTE profiles on Android 7 can now register for VoLTE service on Telstra! As shown here.
This is quite a significant change and I'm honestly a bit surprised this has finally happened.
I would really like to know exactly when that change was made and why.
I had been calling for that change since late 2023, why this wasn't done before the shutdown is beyond comprehension.
Telstra could have fixed this months if not years ago!
This issue is literally mentioned in the Interim 3G Shutdown Inquiry Report from August last year.
I also spoke about this at length to the Committee at the hearing on 23 July and in subsequent information on Medium.
There is also another petition about this specific issue.
In my letters to the Minister and ACMA regarding the ECS changes I specifically said that 'Telstra needed to be forced to support the most widely used 'Open Market' VoLTE profiles & standards' just like what Optus and Vodafone have done.
I also spoke to the Mobiles Branch of the ACCC about this issue in late August 2024.
At the time they weren't aware that you could have purchased a 'network unlocked' VoLTE capable 4G or 5G device from a retail store 2-3 years ago but it only works (worked) on Optus and Vodafone (only 000 would have worked on Telstra).
It was indicated to me at the time they were going to raise this issue with the ACMA as they're the technical regulator, the ACCC can't regulate technical mobile standards.
Though I don't have much if any faith in the ACMA to actually regulate (as I mentioned in another Petition Update).
So in any event, things have clearly been worked on to some extent behind the scenes, though for many it's unfortunately too little too late.
The change by Telstra may be a panic move to fix things, but for them to finally capitulate on this issue is quite funny.
It's gratifying to at least be vindicated on that point, even if the Department and ACMA didn't listen to me on anything else and seemingly refuse to speak with me.
So going forward interoperability between Telstra, Optus and Vodafone for Calling should now be greatly improved (provided the TAC isn't being blocked in error by the incompetent telcos).
Though for Emergency Calling the Telstra network still seems to only allow IPv6 for Emergency Call attaches, whereas Vodafone and Optus Support IPv4 and IPv6, which is the more correct 'standard compliant' approach (as shown at the EENA in 2022).
So they still have some work to do. Newer devices support either and both so it doesn't pose a problem for calling interoperability, though there are older devices (which are largely now blocked) that cannot make Emergency Calls on Telstra due to the IPv6 requirement.
What's Next
I am disappointed the issues around the blocking didn't get properly noted in the Inquiry report, though we did get some good questions asked at the recent hearings, and on notice. And I'm thankful and appreciative of that.
Also please find below copies of the last two emails I sent to the Senate Committee regarding this issue.
It's important that information, and everything else related to the shutdown, is within the public domain.
- 3G Shutdown Senate Inquiry - Rural & Regional Affairs Committee - James Parker - 28 November 2024
- 3G Shutdown Senate Inquiry - Rural & Regional Affairs Committee - James Parker - 4 February 2025
My emails to the Committee contain a lot of additional information that I haven't been able to include in these updates.
Such as Telstra is actually forcing outbound 'upgrade to a compatible device' messages on devices that work perfectly that they didn't sell or devices that simply require a software update.
This is an issue where transparency is critical, there is still more that can be done in this area.
The ACMA also has an 'Open Consultations' page regarding Compliance Priorities for 2025-26, one of those is "Safeguarding Triple Zero emergency call services". However the compliance around the accurate blocking of devices doesn't appear to get a mention.
As it's an election year I would recommend you once again raise this issue with your Local MP and Senators for your State, especially if you're in a marginal seat.
The representatives in those seats probably want to be seen to be addressing issues.
So with some pressure they might be spurred into action, or at least will want to look like they're doing something.
AEC - Find my electorate
https://electorate.aec.gov.au
APH - Contacting Senators and Members
https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Contacting_Senators_and_Members
Though it may end up taking a major network outage to happen and people being unable to call 000 (again) on 'officially supported' devices before anyone really takes action.
When that happens I'm sure the Department and ACMA will just try and shift blame to the telcos and they'll pretend they didn't know.
You are also welcome to contact me if you have any further information you want to share. https://medium.com/@jamesdwho/about
Thank you to those who have emailed previously, I haven't been able to respond to everyone.
Thank you for all the support and interest with this to date, this isn't over yet!
There is still more that can be done, including with your help.
Regards
James