Australia’s phone companies are giving away free phones and gift vouchers in a last-minute bid to lure customers off 3G

Briefly:

Almost 200,000 Australians still rely solely on 3G devices, which will stop working within weeks.

Telstra and Optus are now giving away phones and vouchers to help vulnerable Australians get better.

What is expected next?

The 3G network is being phased out to make way for 4G and 5G technologies.

Telstra and Optus are giving away free mobile phones ahead of the imminent shutdown of their 3G networks.

More than 450,000 Australians could be affected by the switch, a Senate inquiry has been told.

With five weeks to go, Optus is offering 20,000 free handsets to customers “facing other difficulties or vulnerabilities” and $400 in store credits to help others replace their 3G phones.

“We’re removing as many barriers as possible to customer upgrades,” Harvey Wright told Optus’ executive committee.

“We understand that we are in the midst of a cost of living crisis and the last thing people need is another bill to pay, effectively.”

Meanwhile, Telstra has given away more than 12,000 free handsets ahead of its shutdown, which has been in the works for nearly five years.

“As with all transitions of this type, we expect there will always be some people who will not take action to upgrade their device,” Telstra executive John Hewitt told the committee.

“We remain confident that the plans and processes we have in place for the closure will provide a smooth transition for the vast majority of our customers.”

Optus predicts up to 150,000 of its customers will fail to upgrade ahead of the 3G shutdown.

Concern for subset of 4G phones

TPG Telecom, which owns Vodafone, closed its 3G network in January and told the committee there was “minimal disruption to customers, with very low levels of customer complaints”.

Telstra and Optus will shut down their networks from August 31 and September 1 respectively, meaning phones, EFTPOS machines, medical alarms and security cameras that only rely on 3G will stop working from those dates.

The telcos are sending regular reminders to affected customers and have launched an SMS check tool Australians can use to determine if they need to take action to upgrade their mobile phones.

But of greater concern to the federal government is a subset of older 4G handsets that, because of the way they are configured, default to the 3G network for emergency calls.

Many of these phones are bought overseas and on the “grey market” and owners may not realize they can’t make Triple-0 calls until the 3G network is turned off.

The number of devices in that category appears to have fallen from a peak of about a million in April to about 100,000 today, according to Communications Minister Michelle Rowland.

Telecom executives told the committee they first identified the potential problem with older 4G handsets in the middle of last year, but only reported it to the government in February after realizing the scale.

Telstra – which delayed its planned shutdown by two months – said it had left “no stone unturned”, analyzing 14 billion call records and eight million Triple-0 call records to identify the number of customers potentially affected .

‘Nervous’ flying doctors choose satellites

Seven million Australians living in rural, regional and remote Australia are being assured they will have “equivalent” 4G coverage after the 3G network is switched off.

Mr Wright said Optus had spent years improving its network and told the committee the telco’s 4G footprint is now larger than its 3G.

“This is a competitive environment and the last thing we want to do is make our customers unhappy through this process because they will leave, it’s quite simple, especially in regional areas,” he told the committee.

“We fight hard to win customers and we will fight hard to keep customers through this process.”

Despite these assurances, the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) told the committee that it uses tracking devices and distress alerts that rely on 3G and that it was “nervous” about receiving a signal on the newly expanded 4G network.

As a precautionary measure, the RFDS has invested $200,000 in Starlink satellites to ensure the equipment, which is essential to staff safety, continues to operate.

“The initial costs are about $200,000 a year and the ongoing costs will probably be about $50,000 – $60,000 a year,” RFDS chief executive Greg Sam told the committee.

“Our money could be put to better use there.”