Poor digital coverage in Queensland

APUMP (the Association for the Protection of Users of Mobile Phones) has conducted practical tests of the coverage of digital and analogue mobile phone networks.

According to Boyd Munro, the association's President, these tests were conducted at the request of various Queensland Shires namely Banana, Boonah, Clifton, Gayndah, Inglewood, Nanango, and Waggamba.

"Our tests showed that the analogue network provides far greater coverage than digital", he said. "If the Howard Government goes ahead with its plan to close the analogue network, huge areas will be left without mobile phone coverage. Even though the government may think those areas contain "nothing but sheep, goats and paddocks" (as a senior government official said on 19th February this year), that is wrong. People in regional Australia have come to love, and depend on, the availability of analogue mobile phone service in unpopulated areas.

"The analogue network could not be closed without the active support of the National Party. Only last week the Nationals delivered that support by opposing a Senate motion which would have probably resulted in the retention of the analogue network.

"Back home in the electorates, the Nationals talk convincingly about fighting to keep it. But whenever the chips are down in Parliament House, the National Party supports the closure of the analogue network. That has happened three times so far this year (on 28th May and on 1st and 8th April). Some National Party MPs have little or no idea of what is involved, yet still support the closure of analogue. For example De-Anne Kelly (Federal member for Dawson) wrote to one of her constituents in Proserpine justifying the closure by saying (amongst other things) that services such as voicemail are simply not available on analogue. Of course voicemail is available on analogue and is used by huge numbers of Australians every day! That's how out of touch with the facts De-Anne is, yet she still votes in favour of closing analogue! (See Hansard for 1st April, p 2166).

"Mobile phones occupy a completely different place in the lives of people in regional Australia from the place they occupy in the lives of city-dwellers. People in regional Australia use mobile phones for security on lonely roads and in back paddocks. They run their businesses from tractors, fishing boats and big rigs. They keep the home fires burning by talking to their loved ones from camp-sites in the evening. It is the analogue network which makes these things possible because of its very long range. The short-range digital network is largely irrelevant to regional Australia outside the major towns. The proposed closure of the analogue mobile phone network is a violent assault of the way of life of regional Australia, and the Nationals are in it up to their ears.

"APUMP urges Queenslanders to send the National Party a message about the need to deliver results for regional Australia. Show the Nationals that you demand results from them in Parliament House - re-assuring words back home in the electorate are not enough. Demand action in support of the analogue network.

ENDS ...

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