Telstra boss stands by mobile coverage claims, despite website changes after Vodafone allegations

Australia Broadcast Center

7 days ago

Despite living less than three kilometres from Sydney's CBD, Tony Kourahanis's Telstra mobile phone reception is barely usable.
"I have to use WhatsApp to make phone calls and the phone cuts [out] … after a few minutes, it just cuts here with no warning, so I have to keep on calling people back."
For service, he often walks onto his front lawn.
While Tony's frustrations might be shared by many city dwelling customers of the big three telcos, it's in remote and regional Australia where two of the biggest providers have recently butt heads.
Telstra — Australia's largest telecommunication service — has been accused by rival Vodafone of engaging in misleading and deceptive conduct for 15 years.
Until May, the telco had failed to mention the advertised reach of its mobile coverage was based on customers using an external antenna.
Despite changing its website this month to state its coverage area figure was based on needing an external antenna, Telstra's chief executive Vicki Brady has now said the telco stands by its claim that its mobile network covers 99.7 per cent of the population.
"Just to be really clear, we have 3 million square kilometres of coverage that does not require you to have an external antenna," Ms Brady told a Telstra investor day in Sydney.
"When we got challenged on it recently, we did take the time to go back over that …
"You don't brush aside a serious allegation like that, you take the time to understand it, to re-check.
"We ran additional testing just to be 100 per cent sure in our labs and so, yes, we stand by [this]."
Just last week, a spokesperson for Telstra told the ABC it had updated its website after Vodafone had communicated "how it's chosen to calculate its coverage footprint" and said "we're highlighting that our 3 million square kilometres of coverage is based on using an external antenna."
Experts believe it's an attempt to "batten down the hatches".
"Because this potentially could open Telstra up to very large fines," said associate professor Mark Gregory from the School of Engineering at RMIT University.
Dr Gregory is concerned that while some areas across the country may be listed as having mobile coverage, what matters is how that connection works.
"Whilst the coverage maps might indicate that you should expect to be able to get some signal, the ability to actually carry out a conversation or some type of a connection like a FaceTime or Google talk with someone else, it's not often possible."
When questioning Telstra, Mr Kourahanis said he was told it was "technical difficulties and they're sorting them out".
"This is two years ago now," he told the ABC.
Consumer advocacy group Ajust has received 500 complaints about Telstra in two years.
"One in three of them related to issues with network and coverage. On top of that, just this year we've seen 10 times as many consumers visiting our website for help with Telstra issues," said Ajust founder Tom Kaldor.
The start-up alleges Telstra's track record is so bad, it will be able to monetise advocating on behalf of its customers
"Consumers are making purchasing decisions based on promises of internet speeds and mobile coverage. And so, if those things are incorrect, they're definitely paying too much because they're not getting the service that they deserve," said Mr Kaldor.
For Mr Kourahanis, he pays $140 a month.
"It's not good enough," he said.
For others, Mr Kaldor said the consequences of poor connections go beyond the financial.
Vodafone has called for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to investigate Telstra for "misleading customers" over the extent of its mobile network coverage, which it says has resulted in an unfair market advantage.
The TPG Telecom-owned telco wrote to the ACCC and urged the watchdog to launch an investigation into Telstra's conduct.
Dr Gregory agrees.
'There have been concerns about the mobile coverage claims for many years and as this is the cornerstone of Telstra's marketing plan, we need to get to point where the coverage maps reflect what the average customer is likely to find when they go into regional or remote Australia."
He said he has been calling on the government for a decade to assist with the "research and development of a system that would permit us to identify the performance of broadband and mobile networks right across the nation".