Member for Maranoa David Littleproud believes the Federal Government should build telecommunications towers in mobile “black spot” areas and charge telecos to access them.
On Tuesday, Mr Littleproud said he saw an opportunity to reshape the Universal Service Obligation (USO) to provide better services to the bush.
He also believed any change to the USO should use the right technology mix to guarantee better mobile and phone services across rural and remote areas, as well as provide a long-awaited kick-start to domestic mobile roaming.
“The $3 billion, 20-year USO agreement between the Federal Government and Telstra struck in 2012 requires every Australian to have access to telephone services, both fixed line and pay phone,” Mr Littleproud said.
“I think it’s commonly accepted that while the local payphone box is a sight we all recognise, as a result of the increasing use of mobile phones it makes sense the Government should be looking towards a pragmatic and sensible review of USO funding.
“What the Government must appreciate is that although a review is needed, we can’t apply a cookie cutter approach in the country.
“It’s imperative that access to fixed line services remains in areas without reliable mobile coverage.”
Mr Littleproud said he believed USO funding could be spent to fund new mobile phone towers, but because this would be done using taxpayer money it should be mandated that all telcos pay to access the new infrastructure in order to provide seamless mobile phone coverage across Australia.
“The Productivity Commission has already said in its draft report that there’s a strong case to review the USO obligations, which includes the lack of transparency from Telstra in the way it’s using that money,” Mr Littleproud said.
“At the same time, I see this as an opportunity to open up the market place for consumers – particularly regional, rural and remote customers.
“This Government is prioritising communications in the bush and I know that in terms of the internet, the introduction of legislation last week to ensure minimum broadband standards is an important piece of the puzzle.
“In my mind, it’s the right time to advocate for better communications for people in the country.
“We must have ongoing access to fixed line services, as well as better and more competitive mobile phone coverage in the bush.”
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