The Albanese Government welcomes the independent Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s decision to conduct an inquiry into regional mobile coverage and the potential regulation of wholesale access.
Ensuring better connectivity for Australians is a key priority of the Albanese Government, and this inquiry will provide additional insights regarding the rapidly evolving mobile market, the Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation and the upcoming 2 GHz Mobile Satellite Service spectrum allocation.
Matters to be considered by the ACCC include:
- how mobile coverage and consumer needs are changing, particularly in regional and remote areas
- the current state of competition in the supply of mobile services and how the proposals may affect competition
- whether consumers have meaningful choice between mobile providers
- how regulation could affect investment in mobile networks
- the role of new direct-to-device low earth orbit satellite services and their potential impact on investment, competition and consumer outcomes in the Australian mobiles market.
The ACCC’s work is separate to Temporary Disaster Roaming (TDR), which is being led by industry. TDR is expected to be in place in time for this year’s high-risk weather season.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Communications Anika Wells:
“No Australian should be left behind and the Albanese Government will continue working to deliver better connectivity for people wherever they live.
“We welcome this timely inquiry and look forward to hearing the views of the ACCC, the community and stakeholders during the process.
“The work the ACCC is doing will complement and inform the implementation of the Albanese Government’s Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation (UOMO), which will require Telstra, Optus and TPG to provide reasonable outdoor access to SMS and voice calls throughout Australia.
“UOMO will be transformative in ensuring that Australians are connected when and wherever they need it most.”
