Hi Petition Signers,

Today the 28th of October marks one year since the Shutdown of the Telstra & Optus 3G Mobile Networks.

It also marks the beginning of the blocking of '000 incompatible' 4G/5G Devices.

The petition is now less than 50 signatures away from 10,000.
Please share the petition and help it get past 10,000!

Today a year ago a reckless, short sighted and incredible injustice was perpetrated on hundreds of thousands of people.
Thousands of perfectly working phones in use by people were artificially blocked from all network services!

The telcos were enabled by the Minister, Government and Regulators to block any devices of their choosing without any transparency or recourse for consumers.

Telstra customers were given half a business day's notice their device would be artificially blocked (on Friday the 25th of October) and many tourists roaming in Australia found their 4G and 5G device blocked by some or all of the networks, many forced onto Vodafone without any VoLTE Roaming Call Service Available!

Consumers had their devices essentially stolen from them, even if they actually worked perfectly on 4G including for Emergency Calls. (Phones that require 3G for 000 just get stuck on calling now.)

Even brand new devices being sold in Australian Retail stores were blocked by Optus!

As a recap you can read what I wrote last year about the blocking.
I made many warnings that were not listened to at the time.

Australia’s 3G Shutdown - Telcos to Block Working 4G/5G Phones! - 25 Sep 2024

Australia’s 3G Shutdown — Why your 4G/5G Phone is now Blocked! - 3 Nov 2024

This week the Senate is expected to formally establish an Inquiry into the latest 000 failures by Optus, reports late today indicate that will happen tomorrow (29/10), though was expected today (28/10).

However the Senate has (and is) supporting the passage of the 000 custodian Legislation with some amendments.

That legislation will give the Custodian (in this case the Department of Infrastructure/Communications) various powers to obtain information from the telcos and cause certain actions to be carried out to prevent outages. 

It's an important element of legislation and should hopefully ensure regulators have all the tools they need to do something about this. Though that currently remains to be seen.

Additionally yesterday it appears Telstra finally remembered they have a Blocking Checker and decided to update it after 5 months of no changes.

They only updated it after that ABC Story came out at the end of May about the inconsistent blocking.

'Telstra & Optus are inconsistently blocking phones. Regulator doesn't know how many' - 27 May 2025

I'm currently working on updating my blocking comparison site, the results will appear soon, along with a Telstra Changelog.
https://isthisphoneblocked.net.au

This new Telstra data set also includes the list of Samsung Devices they are going to block.

If you missed the recent coverage, Telstra and Optus have announced they will be blocking older Samsung Phones such as the Galaxy S6 and S7 out of concern they can't make Emergency Calls on Vodafone. (Other models are 'impacted' as well)

ABC - Some Samsung phones unable to make triple-0 calls - 22 Oct 2025

ABC - Vodafone gave mixed messaging over service issues with triple-0, customer says - 23 Oct 2025

I actually have a Telstra sold Galaxy S6 and it absolutely can and has made 'Camp-on' 4G Emergency Calls on the Vodafone Network with a Telstra Sim and Software Profile loaded on the phone.

So I seriously question the veracity of the claim those phones for certain cannot call 000 on Vodafone at all (if on Telstra/Optus).
For reference Vodafone quietly removed the S6 and S7 from their VoLTE Support list back in July/August 2023!

Months before the Department and Minister would become aware of the scale of the problem in February/March 2024!

I wrote more about that in my 3G Shutdown Senate Inquiry Submission in 2024.

At the Inquiry on 23 July 2024 I also spoke about phones being unable to call 000 on Vodafone.

Senate Rural & Regional Affairs & Transport References Committee | 23/07/2024 (Section at 2hr 41mins)
https://www.youtube.com/live/Tlofv0UfoI0?t=9699s

So regulators and the industry can't say they didn't know or weren't warned. It's in Hansard!

Vodafone also still has no Public IMEI/TAC Checker tool. (Though their support staff have a tool....)
But I think it now appears they are deliberately hiding their blocklist, because for older devices it has some holes in it. 

The fact that now one year on since the shutdown the telcos still have not published a list of blocked and supported devices is incomprehensible! Not even in a basic list or spreadsheet.

If you or someone you know has had their device blocked by Vodafone or Telstra & Optus. 
Please complete my device blocking Google Form that I created last year! Having the data is very valuable!

4G/5G Device Blocking & Capabilities Submission Form

Please also ensure you share the Petition!

It's safe to say there is now increasing awareness of the problems related to the sector (and 000) by Regulators, Media and Politicians. (I did warn about much of this last year)

There needs to be accountability and transparency for what occurred and the only way that can happen is if we continue to raise awareness and push for change!

There is significant power in numbers (especially in a time like now), but it requires continued pressure from consumers and a demand for better.

Write to your Local MP, the Minister, Regulators (ACCC & ACMA) and demand answers!

AEC Electorate:
https://electorate.aec.gov.au/

ACCC - Report a Consumer Issue:
https://www.accc.gov.au/about-us/contact-us-or-report-an-issue/report-a-consumer-issue

ACMA - Contact Us
https://www.acma.gov.au/contact-us

Communications Minister Contact
https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/wells/contact

This can absolutely change with more pressure!
And if anything, the fight has just begun!

I hope to soon be able to bring you some other important information and news soon about my efforts on this in recent months.
There is a lot I know that I'm not really in a position to share at the moment.

As always you are also welcome to contact me, info below.
https://medium.com/@jamesdwho/about

Regards

James