{"id":339741,"date":"2023-11-02T14:50:53","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T04:50:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=339741"},"modified":"2023-11-02T14:50:53","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T04:50:53","slug":"mp-welcomes-roaming-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2023\/11\/02\/mp-welcomes-roaming-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"MP Welcomes ‘Roaming’ Trial"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FLASHBACK: Member for Maranoa David Littleproud lobbying for national mobile roaming services in 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

November 2, 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n

Member for Maranoa David Littleproud has welcomed findings by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission that allowing mobile phone “roaming” during emergencies and natural disasters is technically feasible.<\/p>\n

The ACCC determined in its recently released Regional Mobile Infrastructure Inquiry final report that it was feasible to activate temporary mobile roaming – that is, allowing phones to connect to any network towers – however, the mobile network operators would need to make changes to their business processes, network and operational systems.<\/p>\n

As a result, Telstra announced plans to conduct trials to develop a system to allow people to use any available mobile network during natural disasters if their own provider\u2019s services were unavailable.<\/p>\n

Mr Littleproud said the findings were a step in the right direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the time I entered Parliament, I have repeatedly called on Telstra to share their mobile towers through mandated roaming with other telcos so all users could have the same coverage in the bush,\u201d Mr Littleproud said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThese findings from the ACCC and subsequent trial from Telstra are a positive step, but more can be down to ensure people in rural Australia have access to mobile phone coverage, especially in times of emergency.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s critical for safety and emergency responses, enabling better commerce, business and social interaction in areas of limited network coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n