New law requires baseline outdoor mobile coverage across Australia

Telstra, Optus and TPG will have to provide basic outdoor calls and text services across Australia under new legislation, although key requirements and the rollout timetable remain unsettled. The Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation has become law, with a default commencement date of 31 December 2027.

Communications Minister Anika Wells can postpone commencement until the end of 2030. She also has discretion over coverage, service quality, pricing, funding, fault repairs and whether Triple Zero access will be required. Wells said she wanted consultation with industry and other stakeholders before deciding the standards.

The legislation expands obligations that previously covered only fixed telephone lines and payphones. Mobile reception reaches less than a third of Australia's landmass, despite 98 per cent of Australians using mobiles for calls. Operators could use ground-based networks, but low Earth orbit satellites are expected to serve large areas.

Starlink is currently the only provider capable of supplying the direct-to-mobile satellite technology. Telstra already uses it for satellite texts, but access is restricted to selected customers and compatible phones. That service cannot contact Triple Zero, and direct satellite connections require users to be outdoors.

Australian Telecommunications Alliance chief executive Luke Coleman said spectrum allocation and network integration still needed to be completed. He questioned how services would be funded sustainably in commercially unviable areas and said the market needed more time before the obligation began.

Australian Communications Consumer Advocacy Network chief executive Carol Bennett raised affordability concerns. While supporting the law, she criticised the rejection of amendments on reliability, performance and domestic roaming, saying those measures could improve regional services and allow consumers to use another network when their provider lacked coverage.