Radio, TV and press mentions of mobile phones and APUMP

1. January, 29 1999. ADELAIDE ABS2 State Television News. Rural Australia is calling on the Government to reconsider the impending closure of the analogue mobile phone service. Critics want compensation for the hundreds of thousands of users losing out. Critics are also not happy with Telstra's plan to replace the service with the dual network called CDMA. The analogue protection group, APUMP (ph.sp.), says CDMA technology hasn't proven itself.
2. January, 29 1999. RADIO ILLAWARRA. Telstra is introducing a new mobile phone technology, CDMA to replace the analogue network ... it will have similar coverage to analogue ... the analogue network must close due to a government decision
3. January, 29 1999. MOREE 2VM Radio News Mobile phone lobbyist, Boyd Munro says the new CBMA phone service being introduced to replace the analogue phone service is expensive and unproven.
4. January, 29 1999. MELBOURNE 3RN Radio News The head of a group opposed to the impending closure of the analogue mobile phone network is backing calls for compensation for hundred of thousands of analogue firm owners. Boyd Munro, APUMP: ... buying the new phone is the lesser of the two problems.
5. January, 29 1999. CANBERRA 2RN The head of the group opposed to the impending closure of the analogue mobile phone network has backed calls for compensation ... Federal Liberal MP, Ian Macfarlane, says the Federal Government and Telstra should consider compensation. Boyd Munro, APUMP: ... today they're being told that they're going to have to pay full dollar for new CDMA phones.
6. January, 29 1999. ABC VICTORIAN REGIONAL HORSHAM 3WV Gary, male talkback caller on the analogue system: ... my 26 kilometre range on my analog has been reduced to eight with digital; Greg Young, Telstra: ... from the comments that Gary mentioned we have noted that in our own tests.
7. January, 29 1999. ABC VICTORIAN REGIONAL Keith, male talkback caller on the analog phone network: ... if it's not broken, why fix it; Greg Young, Telstra: ... our prime focus is to provide coverage into the areas where analog apparently has coverage.
8. January, 29 1999. ABC VICTORIAN REGIONAL. Wendy, female talkback caller on the analog phone network: ... we're harvesting contractors ... we have five mobile phones ... we find that the digital phones are fine in the towns, but once you get a kilometre outside the town boundaries ... we rely on our analog phones extensively for what we do ...is this CDMA system going to service those areas that don't have analog coverage at the moment; Greg Young, Telstra: ... we are finding that coverage for CDMA is very similar to that of analogs.
9. January, 29 1999. MELBOURNE 3LO  Jeff, male talkback caller regarding mobile phones: ... I listened to Terry Laidler's interview last night with the Communications Minister ... what I can gather they are closing down the analogue system and using the same antennas and putting on a small gizmo which makes us receive a different radio signal ... I have a $200 analogue phone which I can use all over the east coast and now I will have to buy two handsets to do the exactly same job, one for the city and one for the country.
10. January, 29 1999. ABC WESTERN PLAINS 2CR. Announcer: ... Telstra has finally announced its plans to pull down the current analogue phone system ... it's being sold as having virtually the same coverage as the analogue system, mind you, the promises have changed a little bit, from having the same coverage to having a reasonable equivalent coverage ... perhaps it won't be what we're expecting. I spoke to Boyd Munro from APUMP and he's prepared to come out here and do some testing ... digital was never going to do the job properly ... if it doesn't work then it again becomes a political problem ... the government should ensure that there is not only a similar but an equivalent overlap of coverage.
11. January, 29 1999. MELBOURNE 3MMM Radio News. Canberra is refusing to help those left with useless analogue phones, when the network is cut off next year.
12. January, 29 1999. 2GZ ORANGE Radio News. Federal Member for Calare Peter Andren is concerns moves to close down analogue services in the region before full trials of the CDMA network are complete will result in a lesser service for residents.
13. January, 28 1999. ADELAIDE 5AN Scott, male talkback caller says he does a lot of work in the country ... past Port Wakefield, digital phones just don't provide enough coverage ... he needs a phone for work health and safety reasons.
14. January, 28 1999. ADELAIDE 5AN Boyd Munro, Association for the Protection of Mobile Phone Users: ... says he believes the new CDMA technology won't provide the same coverage as the old analogue network ... while the Government originally promised it would be an exact replacement, it's now backing away from this, saying it will approximate analogue coverage ... it's unknown how CDMA will perform over Australia's long distances.
15. January, 28 1999. ADELAIDE 5AN. Boyd Munro, Association for the Protection of Mobile Phone Users: ... says it's appallingly irresponsible the Australian Government has legislated for the phaseout of the analogue phone network ... the fault is not Telstra's, as it knows very well that the analogue network is perfectly functional ... the Government decided to phaseout analogue technology, because it wanted to line the pockets of digital phone companies ... says people living in regional Australia will suffer due to the timing of the phaseout ... it's too soon.
16. January, 28 1999. ADELAIDE 5AA Radio News. Telstra has confirmed it will be closing its analogue service at the end of them year. It has also unveiled a $400m upgrade of its mobile phone network with CDMA technology to be installed.
17. January, 28 1999. ADELAIDE SAFM Radio News. Most of Telstra's analogue network for mobile phones will be shut down in December. The new digital system will replace the analogue network.
18. January, 28 1999. ABC QLD REGIONAL RADIO. Announcer: ... Telstra has today announced the timetable for the closure of the analogue phone network around Queensland. Interviews with Greg Young, product manager for Telstra: ... the first stage of the closures includes three main areas ... new mobile phone technology CDMA; Boyd Munroe, president of the Association for the Protection of Users of Mobile Phones: ... this is not Telstra's doing, this is the government's doing
19. January, 28 1999. MELBOURNE HSV7 State Television News. Telstra has announced plans for a new mobile phone network confirming it will shut down the analogue network.
20. January, 28 1999. CANBERRA CAPITAL. The Federal Government has refused to compensate those who'll be stuck with Analogue phones after they become useless.
21. January, 28 1999. PERTH 6WF Announcer: ... thousands of analog phone users around WA are to lose their service by the end of the month ... Telstra will introduce its four hundred million dollar CDMA network that will replace analog service. Interviews with Greg Young, CDMA: ... the Federal Government made a decision back in 1991-2 to introduce competition ... they took a decision to mandate the closure of the analog network ... end of this year not the end of this month ... CDMA is a new digital mobile phone technology; Boyd Munro, Association for the Protection of Users of Mobile Phones: ... if this new system really were superior then of course people would have changed over ... in the US customers don't voluntarily migrate away from the analog system because it serves them well ... no technical reason ... not being closed in the US ... coverage of analog is vastly greater than digital.
22. January, 28 1999. TRIPLE J Radio News. Up to one million users of analogue mobile phones will have to buy a new handset at the end of the year when their existing device becomes obsolete ... Telstra and the Federal Government have announced that areas in and around all mainland capitals and major regional areas will lose their analogue service by the end of December. Max Jennings, Telstra: ... the rest of the analogue network will be closed progressively during the year 2000.
23. January, 28 1999. MELBOURNE 3AW. Announcer: ... I don't know if you own a mobile phone, a digital or maybe you're one of the lucky ones who still has an analogue, where the signal is a lot better at times, than a digital ... the signal down at Point Lonsdale is abysmal ... the digital phone would be at the bottom of the list ... they drive me crazy.
24. January, 28 1999. CANBERRA 2RN Radio News. Up to 1 million users of analogue phones will have to buy a new handset by the end of the year ... Telstra and the Federal Government have announced areas will lose their service.
25. January, 28 1999. LAUNCESTON 7NT Radio News. Tasmanians are able to keep operating analogue phones longer than most Australians. The state will be spared in the first round of closures of analogue systems.
26. January, 28 1999. ABC WESTERN PLAINS 2CR Radio News. Analogue mobile phone users in central and south western NSW will lose their service at the end of this year.
27. January, 28 1999. MELBOURNE SPORT 927 Radio News. The Federal Government says Telstra's plan to phase out the analog phone system will give regional users access to the latest technology. Peter McGauran, Acting Communications Minister: ... for those who are able to access analog at the moment, the new system will maintain that service.
28. January, 28 1999. MOUNT GAMBIER 5SE Radio News. Telstra's closure of its analogue mobile telephone network will begin on December 31st this year and include the greater metropolitan areas and one third of all other coverage areas ... trials of new digital network taking place in Swan Hill Victoria.
29. January, 28 1999. PERTH 96FM Radio News. Analogue mobile phone uses will have to make the switch to digital by the end of the year as Telstra will be shutting down its analogue stations. Federal Acting Communications Minister Peter McGauran: ... it means there will no closure ... without replacement ...of similar ... coverage.
30. January, 28 1999. SYDNEY 2RN Radio News. The Federal Government has ruled out any financial help to mobile phone users who will loss their analogue service later this year.
31. January, 28 1999. MELBOURNE MAGIC 693 Radio News. The Federal Government says Telstra's plan for phasing out the analog phone system will give regional users access to the latest technology. Acting Communications Minister, Peter McGauran: ... for those who are able to access analog at the moment, the new system will maintain that service more than anything else.
32. January, 28 1999. MELBOURNE 3AK Radio News. The Federal Government says analogue phone users in capital cities and one third of regional areas will have to transfer to the CDMA network by the end of the year. Peter McGauran, Acting Communications Minister: ... it means there will be no closure of an analogue base station without the replacement with a similar ... coverage of a CDMA.
33. January, 28 1999. MELBOURNE 3RN Radio News. The Federal Government has ruled out any financial help to hundreds of thousands of mobile phone users who lose their analogue service later this year ... Telstra and the Government have released details of where the mobile phone signal will be turned off by December.
34. January, 28 1999. ADELAIDE 5AN Radio News. Hundreds of thousands of analogue phone users around Australia are to lose their service at the end of the year. Telstra has just released details of the geographic locations that will lose their analogue signal in line with a Federal Government decision to shut the analogue network altogether by the end of next year. In March, Telstra will release the results of trials of its new $400M CDMA network.
35. January, 28 1999. PERTH 6WF Radio News. Two regions in WA will lose their analog service in the first phase of the network shutdown due to take effect by the end of the year. Further details are available on the Telstra website.
36. January, 28 1999. ADELAIDE 5MMM Radio News. Telstra has confirmed it's shutting down most of its analogue mobile phone network in December ... the only place where people will still be able to use analogue phones next year will be in the NT and some country areas.
37. January, 28 1999. PERTH 6RN Radio News. Telstra has confirmed the locations of the analogue networks that will close at the end of the month.
38. January, 28 1999. MELBOURNE 3RN Radio News, Hundreds of thousands of analogue phone users around Australia are to lose their service at the end of the year ... Telstra has released details of the locations that will lose their analogue signal.
39. January, 28 1999. CANBERRA 2RN Radio News. Hundreds of thousands of analogue phone users around Australia are to lose their service at the end of the year ... Telstra has just released details of the geographic locations that will lose their analogue signal.
40. January, 28 1999. MELBOURNE 3LO. Jon Faine, broadcaster: ... on the program ... I am doing a survey on the wind up of the analogue phone network ... 800,000 people have to buy new phones before Christmas this year
41. January, 28 1999. MELBOURNE 3RRR. More than one million analog mobile phone users will be forced to change to a digital phone by the end of the year under Telstra's latest plans to shut down analog coverage to 80 per cent of the population.
42. January, 28 1999. MELBOURNE 3AW. Announcer: ... this article on the front page of The Australian will answer a few questions for me ... more than one million analogue mobile phone users will be forced to change to digital by the end of the year ... that is Telstra's plan to shut down the analogue coverage to 80 per cent of the population.
43. January, 14 1999. MELBOURNE 3AW. Announcer: ... we have had a number of phone calls recently from people with analogue phones concerned about the time table for the gradual elimination of the analogue network ... joining me on the line the product manager of Telstra mobile phones, Greg Young. Greg Young, Telstra: ... the closure of the analogue network is going to proceed in a number of phases, a very large part of it is planned to close at the end of this year ... the complete network will be closed on or before the end of 2000.
44. January, 11 1999. SYDNEY 2GB. Announcer: ... even the Polair helicopter was suing analogue phones ... Senator Richard Alston says we are not able to use them after 2000 ... sure we can all go out to buy a digital phone ... to access Motorola's Iridium satellite system ... seems very stupid ... dictated to by the Federal Government ... something to do with contractual terms.
45. January, 11 1999. MELBOURNE 3AW. Jon, male talkback caller about mobile phone blackspots (CONT/D): ... I think we have been sold a bit of a pup with this digital network ... there are a lot of dead spots in the country, the analogue network was fantastic
46. January, 8 1999. TOWNSVILLE 4TO Radio News. A mobile phone has saved a Townsville man and his two young daughters after their dingy was swamped off Cardwell.
47. January, 8 1999. MELBOURNE GOLD 104 Radio News. Two young boys drifted off course when they fell asleep on Lake Victoria ... they used a mobile phone to call for help. Ben Wayward: ... we were being pounded by waves.

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