National Farmers’ Federation has highlighted the apprehension being faced by farming communities about the shutdown of the 3G mobile network later this year made worse by anecdotal reports of degrading and changing mobile service in some areas and a general lack of confidence in the existing complaint processes.
At a public hearing held by the Senate’s Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee this week, Federation Deputy CEO Charlie Thomas says many in the bush still consider the 3G network an essential component of reliable connectivity, a component which triggers a sigh of relief when it pops up on their phone during an emergency or natural disaster.
He outlined four expectations for farmers including connectivity must be equivalent or improved, providers must prioritise accountability and transparency through the transition, proactive, robust and considered efforts are made to inform consumers and avoid adverse consequences, and post-network shutdown issues are addressed quickly and effectively.
He says as it stands now, they’re not satisfied that each of these requirements for this transition have been met – noting though that they still have a couple of months until this transition takes effect with the major regional networks.
