Senator the Hon Helen Coonan was Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts from 18 July 2004 to 3 December 2007. This site is available for archival purposes only.

Senator Stephen Conroy is the current Minister for the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

13 February 2006

Working group to guide transition from CDMA to 3G

The Government will work with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and Telstra to ensure a smooth transition from the CDMA network to Telstra’s planned 3G network, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, announced today.

“While Telstra is bound by licence conditions and current contractual arrangements to provide a digital mobile network in regional Australia, the working group will ensure a cooperative and coordinated approach to replicating the coverage of the existing CDMA network,” Senator Coonan said.

“The working group, including representatives from the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, will convene for the first time this week to look at service quality and regulatory issues associated with the transition from CDMA to 3G.

“This is about making sure that Telstra provides Australians living in rural, regional and remote areas with adequate mobile phone coverage during the rollout of its next generation network.”

Specifically the working group will consider:

How Telstra will replicate the quality and coverage of its CDMA network with 3G;
Details of the planned trials of the 3G network; and
The continuing role ACMA will play in evaluating the performance of the 3G network, including monitoring of quality and coverage.

“Telstra has already stated that it is committed to continuing to operate the CDMA network until the new network provides ‘equivalent or better coverage’,” Senator Coonan said.

“This is consistent with the current licence condition obliging Telstra to maintain a digital mobile network in regional Australia on the 800 MHz band – the band used for CDMA and the band Telstra intends to use for 3G.

“Telstra also has contractual obligations to provide mobile phone services for at least 10 years in the almost 1000 locations the Government has provided funding for.

“The Government is committed to working with both ACMA and Telstra to ensure a smooth transition from CDMA to 3G.”